


Shot Week V: Love in the Time of COVID-19

by TheMondayChild



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:48:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 56,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23882545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMondayChild/pseuds/TheMondayChild
Summary: The 5th edition of Shot Week features: heaven meets hell, a naughty girl next door, an immortal voyeur, a second puberty, the emperor's new ho, a hardworking cam girl, and an unwilling bridesmaid.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Comments: 21
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Celestial Maidens descend to earth to bathe and make merry in a spring. A demon happens upon them and one night of fun becomes a whole lot more.**

**One: The Moon Herself Grew Dark**

In all the many years he had spent prowling the earth, never had Inuyasha been so lucky as he was tonight.

He had been planning on pillaging one of the villages and taking a woman or two for as long as they were good for. It had been a boring few days and he wanted some excitement to liven up his immortality.

That was when he saw the spring.

At the very least, he could bathe for his human whores. He might be a chthonic nightmare of a monster, but he wasn't an asshole about it. Loosening the ties of his firerat garb, he wondered if it would be wise to rub one out before he got to the closest village. Sometimes the fighting excited him more than it should, and he tended to get a little excited, which tended to lead to gratuitous violence.

Just as he got his dick in hand, the miracle occured.

The moonlight grew brighter until it was nearly a silvery version of the day. He heard the laughter before he saw or smelled anything. Seven incomparably beautiful women walking on a moonbeam until they touched the center of the spring.

Inuyasha knew enough to retreat to the darkness of the forest. The village was forgotten.

Their gowns were sheer and silver, sparkling like the stars. Carelessly, they dropped them to the surface of the water, where they pooled and stayed floating on the surface, not absorbing any of the moisture. One by one, they descended, each laughing happily as they splashed around. The last one to come to the water nearly made him choke. She glowed with an ethereal beauty just like the others, but there was something more to her, a different glint in her eye, one that had him tugging his cock back out.

The seven women laughed and played games and splashed about. They took turns bathing themselves and each other. The one he had his eye on laughed a little louder, splashed a little harder, lingered a little longer with her massaging touch. Inuyasha kept his eyes on her without blinking, tugging furiously at his cock until his eyes burned and he was seconds away from coming, unable to quiet his lustful growls.

It was time.

With a roar, he leapt out of the shadows. The celestial maidens saw him, screamed as one, and turned to flee. Since he was as naked as they, he had no problem plunging into the shallow water and making for his intended target. It was pure luck that the bitch he wanted just happened to be slower than the rest. She didn't even make it out of the water, hands raised to her sisters who held their gossamer gowns to the chest and ran on a staircase of moonlight.

None of them looked back.

Inuyasha was about to remark on what absolute cunts her friends were when she elbowed him in the gut, taking him by surprise just enough to knock the wind out of him.

"Let go of me you disgusting, dirty demon!"

"Quiet now, daughter of heaven," he said, voice dark enough that she ceased her struggles. He wasn't sure whether he liked it. Inuyasha carried her to the water's edge and shoved her toward the dark forest, her gown in his hand. He knew enough to know she couldn't get back to her palace in the clouds without it. "Run. Hide. You're what I like best to chase."

Her silver eyes were wide and wet, fixated on his cock in a mix of horror and some kind of maidenly fascination. He flexed it for her and she flinched, taking off like a scared little rabbit. Out of consideration for her weak ankles which were used to a much daintier gait on steadier terrain, he waited a few seconds, his tongue peeking out and tasting her scent on the air. His blood thrummed through his veins and pulsed in his cock when he thought ahead to how he was going to fuck her sweet angelic pussy in just a few more minutes.

On hands and knees, he howled as he took off after her.

It would have been easier to hunt her from the treetops, but Inuyasha didn't want easy tonight. A long time had passed since he had allowed himself to be as free and brutal as he wanted to be, and this night was going to make up for all that.

After a scant few seconds of hunting, he found her. The celestial maiden was oblivious to him creeping up behind her, her panting breaths and panicked little mewls too loud to hear anything else. She hadn't even taken any trouble to conceal herself or her footsteps, which were obvious even in the dark of the forest. It was almost like she _wanted_ to be caught.

"Found y—"

She screamed and threw a rock in his face. So the bitch had thought ahead. That was going to cost her. Inuyasha flung himself forward and tackled her. She squirmed against him, her beautiful radiant body covered in the dirt of the forest floor. With the weight of his body pinning her down face first on the ground, he only needed to bite her neck, his fangs just barely pricking her skin, to make her understand what he wanted her to do. They might be different in terms of where they had come from, her from the skies and him from the bowels of hell, but they were both creatures of the night, after all, so they must hold some things in common.

Slowly, she stilled and relaxed, and he slipped his hands underneath her, feeling the soft, smooth skin of a heavenly princess and how much better it was now that it was sullied. From navel to neck he caressed her, and soon she was trembling and squirming in quite a different way from before, smelling sick with fear and new desire. When he palmed her breasts and flicked her nipples with his claws, she even moaned aloud.

His pleasure had been denied for too long and so he wasted no more time in becoming acquainted with the bitch. Inuyasha rose to his knees and felt his fangs lengthen in anticipation. Hands on her sinfully plump ass, he pushed his hips forward as he yanked her back. Together, they cried out at their union. When he pulled back he saw that her virgin blood stained his cock and he almost came right then and there.

It was a frenzy. He crashed into her and couldn't stop, couldn't control himself. Her head remained on the ground and she was angling her hips back and up, pushing against him, giving as good as she got. Had anyone passed by close enough to hear, they would have thought it was the mating of two wolves or mountain lions, beautiful and terrible things. Inuyasha felt himself in a fever, not able to believe the hot pussy that clasped him just right was moving back against him and sought to get him off rather than fight him off.

And get him off it did when she twisted her hips and squeezed at the same time a wanting little purr left her lips.

A groan of satisfaction left him and he slumped over her. She was still trying to fuck him, desperately humping against his softening cock. It was beginning to get annoying, so he shoved away from her, brushing himself off.

"You were a good whore. Your payment is hanging on a tree branch close to the water's edge. Let's hope you find it before dawn."

Inuyasha left, but not before her cry of frustration brought a smirk to his lips.

**O\o/O**

It was a few more nights before he saw her again.

He had waited by the spring night after night, angry with himself for it. There were plenty of bitches out there. She wouldn't come down again and neither would the others, not after that night. And it wasn't like he could storm heaven and take her. No, it would be best if he made another den by another village and stopped hoping for the impossible.

But then he woke up late and found he couldn't move.

"Hello again."

Inuyasha's ears stood straight up in disbelief. There was no way. But there she was, just as naked as she had been the last time. Her gown was folded neatly on his wardrobe and she was sitting on his bed, watching him with amusement and something dark swirling in those silver eyes.

"You can't move. Can't talk, either." He growled at her and she laughed. "I stole my father's manacles. They can bind any creature while the moon shines."

She crawled over him until her black hair enveloped them in a new kind of night. He wondered if she could hear his heart racing just as he could hear hers.

"You know, it was awfully terrible what you did. If anyone found out I was no longer pure, I would be banished from my home in the heavens forever and forced to live on earth like some kind of mortal. That's almost as bad as marrying one of my father's annoying old courtiers."

Her fingers traced the muscles on his naked chest and her lips were closer to his, almost touching. Fuck, but he wished he could move.

"You can keep a secret, right? There's no way you can tell Father that his little Kagome allowed herself to be deflowered by a creature of the underworld."

Kagome kissed him and he whimpered like a pup. The feeling of her smile made him wish he could knock her to the floor and fuck her into the ground like he had before. How dare she try and subdue him!

"You owe me, demon. It's my turn and you better not finish before I tell you to."

She punctuated the vague threat with a twist to his right nipple and he whimpered again, feeling himself grow hard.

"Good boy," she cooed. "Time to play."

The celestial maiden's lips scorched a path down his torso, making his muscles quiver with rage that he couldn't reach out and direct her touch. When her mouth ghosted over his cock, he stopped breathing entirely, only to cry out when her tongue licked along a vein before sucking him in. Her throat closed around him like a pussy and a tear escaped his eye when his hips didn't listen to his brain and ram his length inside until her face was obscured by his bush.

"There!" Kagome said in proud delight when his cock was standing straight up, hard and shining with her saliva. "You taste good, demon, but not as good as you feel."

With that, she climbed back on top of him, lowering herself carefully on his cock. The two of them watched her take him in, eyes transfixed on the sight of her pussy swallowing him. Kagome bit her lower lip until it was white and beads of sweat dotted her brow. Inuyasha longed to grab her beautiful ass once again and slam her down on him, but the power of the manacles was too great. When finally, at long last, he was completely inside her, she stayed still and stared at him in a daze, mouth open in a smile, one hand on his chest and the other over her stomach.

"I feel you here," she whispered.

Fuck, he nearly lost his nut.

Kagome began to move, hips rocking with an enthusiastic vigor he approved of. It wasn't long before she was bouncing, glorious tits bouncing along with her, brow furrowed and mouth open in one long stream of wails. Her nails dug into his chest and one of her hands was furiously moving over her clit. When she came, it was so beautiful that he regretted not letting her climax before.

"That was great," Kagome said breathily, sliding off of him. "You're much better when you can't move."

Something in his eyes must have tipped her off to his thoughts, because she giggled and kissed him, stroking the horns on his head. Her hands moved all over his body, her lips quickly following in their path. When she started to clean off his cock, he was again amazed at the restricting power of the manacles.

"Mmm, you taste even better with a little bit of me."

Inuyasha groaned. His cock was achingly hard and he longed to have the life sucked out of him by her heaven-sent mouth.

Kagome grabbed her dress and put it on. "This was fun. Thanks, demon."

And she was gone.

He didn't even get to curse at her until daylight, when the manacles and their power evaporated.

Fucking bitch.

When would she descend again?

**O\o/O**

After that, seldom did a night go by where she didn't come visit him. Their time together grew longer and longer until some nights she barely made it back to her home on the last rays of the fading moonlight. It was beginning to bug him. So what if she stayed a day or two with him? It wasn't like her dad would fucking notice. He had like a hundred daughters or whatever.

One night, there was the smallest sliver of moon he had ever seen. Kagome made it anyway, walking a path of moonlight that led directly to the tree roots that hid his den. When he saw her, he grabbed her and ripped off her clothes, leaving them right there in the dirt. She giggled into his kiss and tugged him from his pants. At least they were on the same page.

"We need to make this night count, Inuyasha," she said quickly as he sucked on her neck, wondering if she would object to a hickey again.

"I always do." Fuck, but she smelled so damn good.

"My sisters are beginning to suspect something." She cried out as she hit the bed and he took a second just to admire her dark waves crashing over the red silk of his sheets. "I don't want to stay away, but I think it would be best if I took a week or two and went to their parties and just pretended to be normal."

He snorted. That was stupid. Her sisters were stupid. He was going to tell her as much when she kissed him and he forgot what he was going to say.

"Please, Inuyasha? Don't fight me. Just fuck me."

He moaned her name as he slid inside, chanted it on every thrust. Her arms wound around his neck and pressed his seeking lips to her throat.

He made it count. Maybe Inuyasha made it count a little _too_ much. The weakening of his powers that occured when the sun rose woke him, and he saw that she was still in his arms.

"Fuck," he said to himself, partially in amazement at the sight and partially at the thought of how mad she was going to be when she—

"Holy shit, what time is it!?"

"Uh, well, I don't think the moon is still out…"

Kagome ran naked to the den's entrance just to make sure. When her eyes confirmed what her body must have already known, she shrieked and ran back to him.

"There are _people_ out there!"

Well, that was weird. He was pretty deep in the forest, so unless there was something big going on, humans didn't pass this way.

"Oh, fuck."

"What now!?"

"Well, it's a moonless night."

All the color drained from her face. "No… No moon?"

He nodded.

"I… I can't go home?"

"Not tonight. But tomorrow you can. And you can come with me to the village festival tonight."

"Festival?"

"Yeah. They do it every new moon. There's food, merchants, and costumes, so we won't stand out too bad."

"Is it… Is it safe?"

"You're with me," he said, taking her into his arms. "Of course it is. Here, pick out a set of clothes from my wardrobe for tonight. Anything you want."

The fight they had over why he had women's clothing in his possession lasted until the festival.

Kagome was beautiful in a sapphire gown with embroidered stars. He'd think it was made for her if a magistrate's pretty daughter hadn't left it on his floor mere months before he met Kagome. Next to her, he looked like the devil himself, switching out his red firerat for a black one with a red undershirt. Kagome didn't seem to notice the looks people threw their way, wondering why such a beautiful and innocent-seeming maiden was walking arm-in-arm with someone who looked an awful lot like the demon bandit that ravaged the countryside.

The music was loud and he drank enough sake that it only took Kagome three asks and four kisses to get him to dance. He held her closer than he should have and they received scandalized looks from the village folk, but the way Kagome was smiling up at him, her face flushed so prettily, he didn't care enough even to save her reputation.

Kagome didn't even need to eat, being a daughter of heaven, but she still nearly emptied his purse with all the sweets she demanded from the stalls. When they passed a merchant that sold jewelry, however, she surprised him by walking right past it and on to one that sold flowers.

Inuyasha tugged her back.

"C'mere. Whaddya think of this?" He held up a locket in the shape of a heart.

"It's gold." She smiled. "Like your eyes."

His gust twisted and he handed the merchant far too much coin, taking Kagome's hand and walking to a less-populated corner before anyone could see his face color. "It's yours."

"But Inuyasha, I can't keep this! I mean, it's beautiful, and thank you, but I cannot bring things from earth back to the heavens."

"Fine. Then give it to me."

"Inuyasha, I really—"

He grabbed a waving lock of her hair and used his claws to snip off the smallest bit of it, putting the silky bit into the locket. "There. Now I have a piece of you even when you leave." He grinned down at her and put the locket over his head.

Kagome looked struck and her lower lip trembled. "Inuyasha…"

"What?" Great, now she was going to cry and cause a scene and make everything even more embarrassing.

"Where can we be alone?" Her hand reached inside his hakama and let him know what was on her mind.

Inuyasha tossed her over his shoulder, not caring if anyone was watching, and took off for the only place he knew they wouldn't be disturbed.

Tsukuyomi's shrine.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded when he closed the doors behind them. "This is my _father's_ shrine. We can't do anything here. What if he finds out?"

"It's a moonless night, remember?" he said, kissing her. "He's probably doing what we're about to do in his palace right now."

"I don't know…"

He parted her kimono and cupped her breasts, his thumbs brushing over her nipples.

"My mouth waters for you, Kagome. Who knows how long it will be before we're together again?"

"Oh, Inuyasha, we can't just… Ohhh, Inu _yasha_."

He sucked at her breast like a newborn and sat her down on the offering table, tossing the gifts there to the floor. Kagome didn't even notice, moaning in pleasure and arching her back. Her hands were lost in his hair and her fingers rubbed his horns just the way he liked. When her nipples were as hard as diamonds, he kissed his way down to her pussy, unfurling his tongue and licking her from top to bottom. She squirmed and he tightened his grip just enough that his claws pricked her, making her immediately still. In reward, he tongued her clit, kissing it before sucking and nibbling her outer lips. It was only a moment before she was wailing his name, his face dripping with her pussy juice.

Inuyasha ran his hands over her legs from ankles to behind her knees, caressing her, memorizing her feel. Her muscles trembled and he was caught between the role of predator and lover. With nothing less than savagery, he parted her thighs as far as they could go and stabbed inside her. Kagome cried out until she had no more breath. Inuyasha watched her face turn a deep pink, watched her eyes roll back in her head. He let go of one leg to play with her breasts, twisting and pinching the pink pearl nipples until they glowed a ruby red. The offering table screeched across the floor with every thrust until they bumped against the back wall, sending several idols clattering to the floor where they broke into pieces.

On his last thrust, he kissed her, and they came together.

The demon didn't even bother to put his kosode back on, leaving himself shirtless in the cool night air. Kagome was nearly unconscious, blissed out over his shoulder, barely covered by the now cum-stained kimono. Inuyasha grinned at everyone they passed. It had been a damn good festival.

Kagome stayed wrapped around him even when they were back at the den. Her smile was goofy and he wondered how much sake she'd had.

"Promise you'll wait for me, Inuyasha. No matter how many moons I miss."

"I promise, Kagome." He was as immortal as she. He could, and would, wait forever.

"Good." She kissed him, a barely there peck that still made his head spin. "'Cause I love you."

He tried not to look too surprised. "Good. 'Cause I love you, too."

They slept soundly all day and woke at sunset. Kagome had a quick bath in the spring and he joined her. He had been hoping for more of last night, but she was so concentrated on making herself look like the pure and clean celestial maiden she had been when they first met to do more than make out a little.

Finally, the first threads of moonlight arrived, and it was time to go.

"I promise not to stay away too long," Kagome said, silver eyes crying ethereal tears. "I'll sneak away every chance I get, so don't go running after any magistrate's daughters."

He snorted. "There's no way a mortal could do it for me now." His eyes softened the longer he looked at her. "Or any other immortal."

She sniffled and he wiped her tears. Taking a deep breath, she placed one foot on a moonbeam—and fell right back to the ground.

"What the… Inuyasha, give me a boost!"

"Why the fuck would you need that?"

"I'm walking weird after last night, okay!"

The demon crouched down and cupped his fingers, giving her a leg up. She fell right through the moonlight once again.

"Oh gods, Inuyasha! I knew we shouldn't have done anything in Father's temple!"

"It's gotta be something else, Kagome. It was a new moon, remember?"

"We fucked on top of his offerings and broke his idols!"

"Fuck, it sounds a lot worse when you say it like that."

Kagome began to sob, falling to the ground in her despair. "Now I can never go home!"

Inuyasha knelt beside her. Seeing her in the dirt was reminding him of their first time and that was not where he needed his blood to be going right now.

"You were pretty much just going there to sleep, anyway. The way I see it, your old man did us a favor."

"A f-favor?"

"He's giving us his blessing, Kagome. Or else he would have married you off to one of those courtiers or put us on opposite sides of the planet or whatever. Now let's go home."

"Home?"

"Yeah."

"...How about you chase me?"

Inuyasha growled and Kagome leapt to her feet, shrieking-laughing all the way into the blackness of the forest. He ran faster when he saw her gown of starlight flung carelessly on the path.

Home.

**Note: It's not too late for a quarantine shot week, is it?**


	2. Born Too Late

**A lucky voyeur falls in love with the (mostly) innocent girl next door in between driving lessons and being ignored by her sister, who just so happens to be his girlfriend.**

**Two: Born Too Late**

Inuyasha woke up in his childhood bedroom for the first time in four years. The full bed felt downright spacious after sharing a cramped twin mattress for nearly half a decade. Yawning, he pulled his charging phone from where it rested on the pillow next to him, checking for texts. 

Nothing. Still.

_ I miss you :(, _ he texted, wondering if his seventh message since they parted the afternoon before would be the one she answered. 

His girlfriend of six years, Kikyo, was staying on at school in order to complete her degree. She’d gotten accepted to the medical school part of their university just a few blocks over from the main campus. Medicine was a lot more difficult than business, apparently, since he finished his time and was never going back. Thanks to nepotism, he already had a job lined up for him at his father’s still growing business, which had gone national a few years ago. 

The fullness of boredom that coming home creates finally hitting him, Inuyasha decided to indulge in his favorite pastime. Yawning once more, he lazily stuck a hand down his pants and gripped his morning wood, vague thoughts of Kikyo’s head on Kate Upton’s body filling his mind.

“Good morning, Inuyasha!” his mother crowed happily, bursting through his bedroom door which he still wasn’t allowed to put a lock on (in case of emergencies, they claimed). Face instantly coloring, he discreetly removed his hand from where it had been, thankful he hadn’t yet pulled off the blankets. “Kagome is outside wanting to know if you can come out and playyy!”

“Just like the old days,” his father sighed, putting his arms around Izayoi’s waist and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “I’ll be down in a minute. Tell her to go away.”

“That’s never worked before, and she hasn’t changed much,” Izayoi said with a giggle, grabbing her ex-husband’s wrist and tugging him downstairs.

Izayoi and Toga had gotten divorced years ago. They never told him the reason why, but he suspected that his mother wanted him home more often and his father just did not like permanently cohabitating. It was like they were still together, however, even if they weren’t officially together. Whenever his mother got a date, Toga scared them off, and Izayoi seemed to only seek out the company of other men so he would come over and chase them away. There was still a lot of love between them, which anyone could see, and he stayed over nearly every night he was in town since the divorce and they went out all the time. It was unconventional, but to each their own.

Quickly, Inuyasha stumbled to the shower, hurriedly jerking himself off as the water pounded down on him. Kagome was an impatient girl, so he had to go fast if he didn’t want her in his room—not that going fast was ever a problem for him. Once she got in his private sanctuary, she’d stay all day and put up a hell of a fight when anyone suggested she go back to her house next door. It had been that way ever since they were just kids.

Kagome was Kikyo’s little sister and the two families had lived next to one another for longer than the children could remember. Even though he was four years older than she was, Kagome had been his main playmate during childhood. That was mostly because she forced her presence on him and had since she was first able to walk. He himself had always been more interested in her older sister, who was his age and in his grade in school, but Kikyo was more concerned with her studies than with anyone around her, even when her “studies” had only consisted of learning how to write in cursive and memorizing her multiplication tables. Inuyasha had been in love with her ever since he accidently caught a peek of her underwear when they were seven and she was directly above him climbing the ladder to the slide. It took him eight more years to work up the courage to ask her out, but he had and they were still going strong.

Exiting the shower, he toweled off and tugged on some wrinkled clothes out of his suitcase, not caring how he looked. It was just Kagome, after all. Trudging down the stairs, he heard her before he saw her, the unmistakably bright and cheery little voice that only further concealed the true devil she was from everyone’s notice. The annoying little tag-along was sitting at the breakfast table with his parents, not looking the least bit uncomfortable even though his father was half-naked and his mother wore only a thin robe and they were both giving her the get-out-of-my-house- _ please  _ look. She continued to chatter away about her adventures on the tennis team, stopping her rambling only when he sat down beside her. Turning her big, brown, earnest eyes on him, she grinned with an open mouth, revealing the partially masticated piece of buttered toast inside.

“Inuyasha!” she screeched into his sensitive ear, throwing herself at him in a bone-crushing hug. “Why didn’t you come to see me as soon as you got back!?”

“I got back a little after eight and didn’t want to wake you up,” he shrugged, grabbing a piece of toast.

“Eight’s not my bedtime anymore!” she whined, arms still wrapped around him. “I told you that last time you visited, remember? Huh? Remember?”

Inuyasha shrugged, trying to keep the smile off his face. He knew very well that she didn’t have a bedtime at her age, but it was still fun to tease her. She was practically eighteen already, he mused with a slight bit of shock, eyeing her tight blouse and short pleated skirt. He could remember when she was still in diapers. Hell, she still acted like she was a baby, so it was no wonder he hadn’t fully absorbed her transformation from annoying child to annoying teenager.

“Kagome was just telling us about your promise to teach her to drive,” Toga said, taking a large sip of coffee to keep the smile off his face.

Inuyasha scowled. It was too damn early for this shit. His parents knew damn good and well he had never promised such a thing. If he had, he certainly didn’t remember. 

“Uh, I don’t think today’s good…”

“But you promised!” Kagome said softly. 

“Why didn’t you just learn a couple years ago with the rest of your class?” he said with a snort, turning to look at her, which was his first mistake. Her puppy dog eyes were in full effect, complete with trembling lower lip. “And when did I make this promise?” he asked, fighting to keep some disdain in his tone. 

“I was waiting for you to come back for good! You never had time for me on vacation,” she said, lowering her voice as though that would prevent the demon and human couple seated not even two feet from them from hearing. “You really don’t remember?” she finished in a small whisper.

Suddenly, a memory came to him from when Kagome was still in kindergarten, one pigtail up high and the other almost undone, playing with her Barbies on the floor of his room while he tried his best to ignore her and play with his Hot Wheels. Making zooming noises, Kagome grabbed her favorite doll, the one with the chewed upon hands and feet with massively poofy ratted hair, and stuck each foot in one of his little cars, making her doll move around back and forth like they were roller skates. Inuyasha laughed and laughed at the little girl, who had ceased her spit bubble-causing sound effects and was now staring at him in confusion. 

“ _ When you’re bigger, Kagome, I’ll teach you how to drive _ .”

“Shit,” he muttered, finishing off his toast.

“You  _ do  _ remember!” Kagome exclaimed at the defeated look on his face, shifting in her seat excitedly. “Well, come on. I already have my permit and want my license by the time I have to leave for college.”

Inuyasha groaned aloud, knowing he would get no help from his parents. Izayoi and Toga traded twin amused glances before smirking at him, their eyes sparkling with laughter. Getting up, he grabbed Kagome by the back of her shirt, dragging her away while she squeaked a goodbye at her neighbors. 

Going to the driveway, he opened the passenger door of his van, the old, beat-up one that looked like it belonged to a rapist. In reality, it was the first thing he had ever bought with money he himself earned, and he cherished it, remembering carting around the instruments for his short-lived band back in high school. Kagome had helped pay for it too, he reflected fondly, recalling how she had been about ten when he’d first started saving and had opened up a lemonade stand and a pathetic car wash to help him out. All in all, she’d contributed fifteen dollars, donations solely from her parents and his, and he’d accepted it only after she threatened to throw it through his window attached to a brick.

Turning to relate the memory to Kagome, he got a big glimpse of leg as she climbed into the passenger seat, making his eyes go wide. Feeling the beginnings of a blush, he slammed the door and hurried to the other side.

Kagome was pretty.

It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d noticed. No, he’d been noticing since before he’d gone away to school. Even when they were little, he thought she was pretty and adorable and cute and all that, though it had only been brought to his attention because his mother went on and on about her and pinched her cheeks. She had never done that with Kikyo. But it was one thing for her to be pretty and another thing for her to be pretty  _ to him _ . Before, when he had been home for summer and other holidays, Kikyo had always been with him and they’d stayed at a hotel and he’d easily been able to push his thoughts away, but his girlfriend’s hawk eyes weren’t there to stop him now.

Reminding himself that it was just Kagome, he opened the door that was perpetually unlocked not simply because it was a safe neighborhood but because the locks were broken. Avoiding looking at his companion, he backed out of the driveway and for the first time ever actually went the speed limit within the neighborhood.

“Remember to always be aware of your surroundings,” he said, trying to appear bored.

“How am I gonna learn if you keep me in the passenger seat all the time?” Kagome asked, sounding slightly miffed.

Growling, Inuyasha made a right. “We haven’t even been driving for two minutes, so don’t give me your shit.”

“Sor _ ry _ ,” she said with attitude. “I just thought you actually wanted me to succeed in life and not become a homeless drifter, because that’s the path you’re setting me on. Failure, Inuyasha. Failure.”

Gritting his teeth, he began to remember why he avoided spending time alone with her. He knew her well enough to know she wasn’t serious. She was just used to being a kid around him and got a kick out of annoying him. It was just her particular sense of humor. Even though he knew that, he couldn’t prevent his reaction. The heating under his collar, the tightening grip on the wheel. He wasn’t used to people joking around with him. 

Deciding to stop ignoring it like he usually did since that obviously just perpetuated it, he responded, his broken brain-to-mouth filter doing its job splendidly, and he braked at the red light.

“If you want a real lesson, Kagome, why don’t you just hop up on my lap? I’d be glad to show you a thing or two.”

Before he could hit his head on the steering wheel in punishment, he heard Kagome’s seat belt unclick and then she was clambering over to him. 

“Okay!” she chirped innocently, settling in his lap like it was no different from the chair underneath him.

He nearly moaned, but settled for choking on his tongue instead. Her soft bottom was wiggling against a Very Special Place as she continued to adjust herself, taking off his seatbelt and putting it over the both of them, barely managing to do so. Wondering what to do with his hands, he settled on what he thought was safest while still being able to indulge himself and wrapped his arms lightly around her waist. 

“Uh, how about, uh, you try an’ steer while I handle the pedals,” he muttered, blowing her hair out of his face and craning his neck to see over her shoulder. The light turned green and he started slow, going incrementally faster when he realized she was capable enough to not steer them directly into another car. 

They drove in silence for a while as he vaguely wondered in his perverted haze whether they’d be pulled over or not. Thankfully, his windows were tinted pretty dark, as all rape-y van windows were, so it wasn’t likely. Idly, he began to sniff her hair, not even realizing how weird it was until he liked it too much to stop. Wrenching himself away rather abruptly, forcing himself to ignore the startled look on her face, he reminded himself that he had a girlfriend who was prettier and smarter and not even a fraction as annoying as the girl in his lap. Kikyo loved him and trusted him to not dry hump her little sister when he had not even been home twenty-four hours, but holy freaking  _ fuck _ , she was shifting in his lap and her skirt had ridden up, exposing the yellow panties he could see if he turned his head just right. 

A voice in the back of his head blamed Kikyo for his sudden sexual attraction to Kagome. She didn’t  _ need  _ to take summer classes. She never had before. Sure, she’d finish faster that way, but why did she have to start now? And why the fuck hadn’t she so much as looked in the direction of his dick for the last month and a half? Did she not find him attractive anymore? He’d told her time and time again that individuals with demon blood had greater sexual needs, once even going so far as to print out peer-reviewed sources. Nerdy chicks appreciated things like that, right? 

Not noticing when he began to rest his chin on his student’s shoulder, he told himself he was only attracted to Kagome because she bore a striking resemblance to Kikyo. They were sisters, after all, and though Kagome had wavy hair while Kikyo’s was straight, was short where his girlfriend was tall, was more Victoria’s Secret model while her sister was more runway model, they could be twins. Fraternal twins who had personalities as different as, well, their tits, which was the only thing Inuyasha could think of at the moment. Kikyo’s were large for her frame, true, but still smaller than average. Kagome’s looked to be a good size or two bigger, which he would be able to confirm if he moved his hands up just a few inches…

Shaking his head, he went back to actively watching the road, nearly pushing the gas pedal to the floor when Kagome began to squirm again, this time not stopping after a couple seconds. Hating himself for being turned on at all, he glanced at the rearview mirror, which gave him a good look at Kagome’s face. Her eyes were lit up with a wicked kind of glee, and nothing could hide the smug smile that twisted her pink lips.

The bitch was doing it on purpose.

Curbing his sudden need to pounce on the girl in his lap, he somehow managed to make it through the rest of their lesson without blowing his load or molesting her. His only consolation was the somewhat disappointed look on her face when he dropped her off at her house several hours later. It meant he had  _ won _ . He had let her play and he had outlasted her. Just barely… The rest of his daylight hours were spent catching up with his parents and desperately trying not to think of what had just happened between him and the girl next door. Finally, it was time to go to bed, and he was alone. 

Inuyasha had a dirty habit of turning off all his lights and watching the room in the house next door through his halfway shut blinds as the inhabitants got ready for bed. He'd only had eyes for Kikyo before, but she wasn’t there anymore. Stripping to his boxers (just in case anyone walked in), he primed himself, slowly stroking his length, remembering the feel of Kagome in his lap. Some part of him knew it was wrong, but it felt too good for him to care much. 

After a little while, Kagome entered the room, calling out a goodnight to her parents before closing the door. Walking to her vanity table, she undressed, revealing her perfectly formed high breasts, the almost abrupt curves of her waist, and her lovely heart-shaped bottom. Not a thought was spared for Kikyo, not after that. His hand pumped his cock faster when she bent over, going through her chest of drawers for a nightie. It was a little white cotton baby doll, pink ribbon at the bust, but he barely saw it. Fuck it all, he could see her pussy lips. Bare. She shaved. Or waxed or something. Once the nightgown obscured his view of her, she turned around, facing his window. Inuyasha was frozen, dick in hand, panicking and feeling like he was about to have a heart attack, before he remembered there was no possible way she could see him. Kagome smiled and blew three kisses before leaving his sight and turning off her light, snug in her bed.

The lust for revenge, as well as his actual lust, cooled somewhat after that. Ever since she was little, she would blow him his three kisses. How could he be angry at her and violently want her when she was still so much like the child she used to be, the Kagome he remembered? 

Erection wilted, he flopped on the bed and grabbed his phone, checking for texts. Still nothing. Dialing her number, he prayed for the first time in his memory that Kikyo would answer. She’d never not picked up before recently. He needed to hear her voice, needed to reassure himself that she was still his. He needed to hear her so he wouldn’t end up doing something stupid without her there to stop him.

“Inuyasha?”

Inhaling sharply at the sound of her tired voice, he realized he had no idea what to say to her. It wasn’t like he could admit he sort of wanted to fuck Kagome after barely spending five minutes in her company. 

“Uh, how’s it goin’?”

She sighed, frustrated. “It’s fine. I’m just really, really tired.”

“Oh. Me too.”

They stayed on the phone in silence. His face colored more with every second. When the hell had things become so painfully awkward between the two of them?

“Tell my family I said ‘hi’. I’ll try and make it down for a weekend.”

“Which weekend?” he asked too fast, biting his tongue and wincing.

“Ugh, I don’t know yet, Inuyasha. Anyway, I’ve really got to go now.”

She hung up before he could say goodbye. 

Sighing, he rolled to his side and stared at the dark window of what had used to be Kikyo’s room. Even the memory of her crawling out of it and over to his on the night they’d given their virginity to each other didn’t stir his loins like it used to. Trying to console himself, he reasoned that all couples who had been together as long as they had (was it really six years already!?) experienced problems. The honeymoon stage was over. Now they were embarking on real adulthood and they didn’t have time to act like kids. Not that Kikyo had ever acted like one… 

Dwelling on maturity levels had him thinking of Kagome yet again. Inuyasha knew she was perfectly capable of acting her age, but as the baby of the family, she never had to. No one ever expected anything from her but adorableness, and she had that in spades. Not like him and Kikyo. 

Kikyo was going to be a doctor just like her parents always wanted her to be. Inuyasha was going to work for his dad, the only heir, with all the responsibility on his shoulders. There was no way someone like Kagome could understand how proud yet trapped he felt. He liked that his father expected things from him and knew he could achieve, he liked being trusted, he liked being treated like an equal. But sometimes he liked goofing around, too. Today with Kagome was a prime example of that. When he was with her, he didn’t feel like he was an old man already. He felt like himself.

He fell asleep facing her window.

**O\o/O**

“Inuyasha!” Kagome screeched, interrupting what would have been a wet dream where he fought off monsters and saved a beautiful princess who looked a little too much like the brat next door.

“I’m up,” he slurred, turning over and snuggling back into the pillow. Then something occurred to him. “How the fuck are you in my room?” he shouted, bolting upright.

Kagome smiled sheepishly at him from where she sat on his window ledge. The top rung of a ladder could just be seen behind her.

“No one was answering your door and I got scared that maybe there was a carbon monoxide leak and you died in your sleep so I came to see if you were alright.”

Rolling his eyes, he made sure the sheets were fully covering him and pointed to the window. “ _ Out _ . Now.”

Her lower lip poked out and she scowled. “I just wanted to give you this, you jerk.” She tossed a paper rectangle at him like it was a frisbee, hitting him right in the face. 

“Ow, what the—” He ripped open the pink envelope with his claws only to see a painted kitten with humongous pink heart-shaped eyes staring up at him. Opening the card, he read:

_ You’re my very nearest and dearest _

_ So won’t you please _

_ Come to my party  _

_ And make me the cheer-est? _

The rest of the card gave the date and time and location of her party. Tonight at seven at her house. Brow raised, he looked at Kagome, waiting for her to explain why she felt that giving him this poorly rhyming card was so urgent she had to break into his house. Again.

Her big eyes were begging him to be nice to her. “I invited everyone in my grade and ever since, no one’s been talking to me, not even my best friends. They’re all busy or they forgot or something and so I had one extra invitation and I thought you wouldn’t let me down.”

Groaning, he covered his face with his pillow. “Aren’t you a bit old for birthday parties?”

She stomped her foot and he peeked at her, secretly delighting in her cuteness. “Are you coming or not!?”

“Will there be a clown and a bouncy castle?”

“Mama said that’s too expensive— Wait, are you teasing me? You’re so mean!”

“Kagome? Is that you?”

“Yes, Mrs. Taisho!” Kagome called.

Izayoi stepped through the door. “What are you doing here so early? Or did you spend the night?”

She laughed as Inuyasha threw his pillow at her and Kagome blushed.

“I was just inviting Inuyasha to my party but he doesn’t want to go.” Her voice was filled with sorrow and Inuyasha was afraid to look at her lest she turn her puppy dog eyes on him again.

“But you always go to her parties, Inuyasha!” Izayoi cried. “I remember the very first one. Inuyasha slipped your diaper off and ran around with it on his head.”

“Mom, enough! I’ll go!”

Kagome giggled. “Don’t be late, either, Inuyasha, or I’ll have to come over and get you. I’ll be waiting on the porch for you.” Going over to the window, she waved to a very confused Izayoi and began to climb down the ladder. “Bye, Mrs. Taisho!”

The girl certainly knew how to make him her puppet.

He spent the rest of the day wondering if he should get her a gift or not. They weren’t kids anymore; he shouldn’t have to. Hell, him showing up was enough of a gift in his opinion. But maybe a bouquet of flowers… Physically shaking his head, he told himself it was just the forced celibacy that was making him act this way over Kagome of all people. 

Ten minutes before seven, he walked the few steps to her house, and there she was on the porch, just as she had said. The way she looked made him stop mid-step on the stairs. Oh, fuck. 

Her hair was down, as it always was, but she must have put some extra effort into it because he could have sworn it was sparkling. And she herself was glowing. The pastel pink dress she wore revealed a small amount of perfect cleavage, her pale skin making him salivate, and her legs were revealed from just above the knee on down. Sitting there softly swaying on the porch swing, she looked like she belonged in a painting.

“You came!” she shrieked, ruining the mood.

Clearing his throat, he made his way up the stairs and stood before her, for the first time conscious of their difference in height in a way that didn’t make him want to give her a noogie and call her a shrimp. 

“Yep.”

Threading her arm through his, she brought him through the door.

“I bet you didn’t even get me a present, did you? You’re so—”

“SURPRISE!”

Kagome screamed and hugged his arm tighter than a blood pressure cuff. Once she realized what was going on, she jumped up and down in place before running into her living room, giggling and talking with her friends. Inuyasha smiled at her. She’d actually believed no one had wanted to celebrate her day. Before this afternoon, he hadn’t known how popular Kagome was, but Izayoi had helped out Mrs. Higurashi by sneaking scores of kids through her backyard and into Kagome’s house through the garage side door. Everything had to be done stealthily so that the birthday girl wouldn’t notice. They needn’t have tried so hard, in his opinion. Kagome was pretty much a total airhead.

Watching her hang out and gush over whatever with people that weren’t him was an interesting thing. Everyone seemed to hang on her every word, and he saw more than a few guys checking Kagome out. For some reason, that had him wanting to leave, so he went to the kitchen and checked the fridge for beer, finding a few hidden in the vegetable drawer. Downing one, he went for another immediately and took his time finishing it, grabbing another before he felt ready to go back out there. Too many kids, too much noise, too much being ignored by someone he thought…he thought… He didn’t know what he thought.

“Kagome,” some clean-cut kid in an actual suit and tie began, “I got you three gifts. They’re the ones wrapped in the sparkly pink with the gold bows. I know those are your favorite colors.” 

Inuyasha recognized him as one of the boys who had been all over Kagome tonight, this one drooling a little more than the others. 

“Thanks, Hojo,” she said without looking at him. “I’ve gotta get something from my room first. Inuyasha, can you help me?”

He started at being addressed for the first time in two hours. “S-sure.”

He followed her up the familiar path to her room. As soon as they entered, she closed the door behind them, and the noise of the party faded away to a dull buzzing. Sighing, she smiled at him.

“Is that better?”

Nodding, his throat suddenly felt dry and he finished his beer, setting it down on her dresser.

“How many of those have you had?” she asked, voice more curious than concerned.

“Just a couple.” He couldn’t stop himself from moving a little closer to her, just a bit.

“So, am I right? You didn’t bring me a birthday present?”

With a quick roll of the eyes, he said, “Do you really need another one? Didn’t that one kid get you five or whatever?”

She pouted. “Hojo got me three, but one from you would mean more than a hundred from him.”

He wanted something stronger than beer now.

Bringing herself even closer to him, close enough that he could wrap his arms around her and they’d be hugging or maybe even dancing to some silent slow song, Kagome looked up at him from beneath her thick lashes.

“Can you give me the one present I’ve wanted ever since I can remember?”

His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. He could only nod, eyes wide, feeling trapped and tricked and tempted.

“I want one kiss from you, Inuyasha. A real one, on the lips. My first kiss.”

“But—”

She gripped the front of his t-shirt. “Please?” Her lips looked so pink and inviting and her eyes were so big and brown that he couldn’t help the bowing of his head, the rounding of his arms around her waist.

A knock on the door had them jumping apart.

“Kagome!” Mrs. Higurashi called through the door. “It’s bad manners to leave your guests alone!”

“Mom, you just ruined my whole entire  _ life _ !” she screeched dramatically.

Inuyasha awoke from his trance. “Uh, thanks for inviting me, but I promised Mom and Dad I’d play poker with them tonight.”

Kagome snorted. “You don’t have to lie to me, Inuyasha. When your parents play ‘poker’, they don’t want you anywhere around.”

And with that, she flounced off back to her party, delicate little upturned nose in the air, leaving him stunned and gaping after her in her room. Before he did something stupid like steal a pair of her panties as his dick was urging him to do, he hightailed it out of there, not even saying goodbye.

His heart didn’t stop its wild pounding even once he was safely back in his room taking deep breaths. What the hell was going on!? Since when did Kagome learn how to do things that made him go crazy? And not the normal kind of crazy she usually drove him to, but a kind of crazy that had him wanting to sneak into her room and take advantage of the little crush she’d had on him all these years.

Inuyasha wondered what would have happened had Mrs. Higurashi not interrupted them. The woman had a sixth sense. He couldn’t count as high as the number of times she’d done a similar thing to him and Kikyo. 

Fuck, Kikyo. 

Guilt flooded him. Should he be honest and tell her the thoughts he was having about Kagome? Girls always said they wanted honesty in a relationship. But confessing that he wanted to fuck her little sister would probably be a deal breaker. They were already on thin ice. Why, he didn’t know. Giving her a reason would just make things worse between them. He couldn’t lose Kikyo. They were supposed to end up together. They had everything all planned out. There was no way he could jeopardize all he had with Kikyo just because Kagome had somehow stumbled across a magic spell that made her irresistible. 

But if they hadn’t been interrupted…

Inuyasha had been so ready to give Kagome what she wanted. It was what he wanted, too. More than anything, he suddenly wanted to kiss her. To be her first kiss. It just felt right. After all, why should the honor go to anyone else? It was him she’d annoyed her entire life. He deserved something in return. Who else knew her better? Who else would make sure it would be perfect? That dumbass kid who’d probably robbed a bank to give her presents? The little fuck looked like he’d cum in his pants if she used tongue. 

The thought of her tongue had him stripping down to his boxers and crawling in bed, stroking his cock and shutting off his conscience. Kagome’s sharp tongue, her wicked tongue, the one she’d used to drive him crazy with annoyance could be used to drive him crazy with lust. He could teach her. Teach her how to please him. Inuyasha imagined her in the dress she’d worn tonight, her special party dress. He saw the two of them in her room, the room he’d temporarily forgotten had once been Kikyo’s, too. This time, when she asked him for her present, he’d given it to her without hesitation, slamming her against the wall and kissing her with a pent-up furious passion he’d been denying for years. Her legs would immediately wrap around him and his fingers would seek out that shaved pussy that had been haunting his dreams. How smooth, how soft, how  _ wet _ it would be. All for him. 

When she was good and ready, he’d stop, teasing her, and throw her on her bed, pinning her down. The pout on her face would be kissed away until she was gasping. Then he’d finally get her out of that dress. She wouldn’t be wearing any undergarments, secretly having hoped for this. Kagome would tremble as he kissed her nipples, gently sucking the virgin peaks. Whispering his name, she’d urge him on, tell him she had a present to give him, too. Her legs would spread wide open and he’d take one lick before determining she was so wet it would be cruel to deny her satisfaction any longer. Carefully, slowly, he’d align himself with her entrance and push inside her tight pussy. Her eyes would fill with those happy tears and she’d pull him close, kissing him, saying, “I lo—”

Inuyasha’s orgasm hit him with unexpected force and he didn’t have the presence of mind to quiet his groan. Fortunately, his parents were playing “poker” in the soundproof basement and therefore neither party could hear the other. Grabbing some tissues, he attempted to clean himself, cringing when he realized how much of a mess he’d made. 

Oh no, he’d actually done it and gotten himself off to Kagome. There would be no turning back after this. But he’d learned something, at least.

He could never give Kagome her present. There was no way he’d want to stop at just kissing.

**O\o/O**

“Kikyo is sooo mean! She didn’t even call to tell me happy birthday and I  _ know _ she’s not getting me a gift!”

Inuyasha groaned as he opened his eyes and was met by an unforgivably bright room and a pouting Kagome. Sitting on his bed next to him like nothing was out of the ordinary, she crossed her arms and glared at the wall, stewing over the slight. 

“You want me to talk to her about it?” he asked, the sound somewhat muffled by the pillow still damp with his drool.

“No. But you can cheer me up another way.”

Leaning over him, her eyes fluttered closed and she waited, lips ready for a kiss. He smiled, not feeling nearly as jumpy around her now that he’d finally gotten some of his lust out of his system. 

“How about lunch?”

Opening her eyes, she stared down at him in mildly upset shock. Obviously, she was very confident in herself. “Fine,” she said, voice barely tinged with disappointment. 

He felt a little bad for teasing her. “We can have another lesson on the way there.”

Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands. “Really!? Ohmygosh, thank you, Inuyasha!” 

Throwing her arms around him, she hugged him close, her sweater-wrapped breasts pressing against his bare chest. Any control he thought he’d gained vanished and he was dangerously close to giving in to her. 

Pushing her gently away, he said, “Go downstairs. I’m gonna take a quick shower. Be done in ten.”

There was something feline about her smile. “Good, ‘cause you reek. Guess I wasn’t the only one upset my mom interrupted us.”

Kagome laughed and turned to leave the room, but not before she saw him turn bright red. Fuck, she was going too far. Never had he seen her so determined with him before. Her crush had always been obvious, but since she was just Kikyo’s pest of a little sister, she was easy to brush off. But without Kikyo there, he was seeing her as more than just a kid sister or an annoying brat. 

Scrubbing himself thoroughly, he tried to wash all inappropriate thoughts of her away. He even tried picturing Kikyo in his fantasy of last night, but all that turned into was a threesome with Kagome where Kikyo eventually melted away into nothing and it was just the two of them again. Fuck. 

His mother and father were very patiently tolerating Kagome downstairs as she bombarded them with the minutiae of her party. Izayoi was a better actor than Toga, who was just openly staring at the clock.

“...And then my mom just knocked on the door and ruined  _ everything _ !”

“Kagome!” he yelped, not believing she actually just told his parents about what he’d almost done last night.

Izayoi wasn’t able to hide her smile. “Are you taking Kagome out of the house to give her an extra special belated birthday gift? You know you two could just stay here. Your father and I would be happy to go to a hotel for however long you need.”

He wasn’t sure who was blushing more, him or Kagome. The girl seemed suddenly shy, looking at him from beneath her long dark lashes. Was that hope in her eyes? Gods, everyone was so weird. Ignoring the burning of his cheeks, he grabbed Kagome by the wrist and tugged her out of the house. Just like in high school, his van was his only sanctuary from the insanity of his house. Barely remembering in time, he sat in the passenger seat, trying to keep his eyes anywhere but on how Kagome’s bare legs looked in that sinfully tiny skirt. 

They barely made it out of the driveway before she nearly ran over an old woman walking her two poodles. She screamed at them in a heavily accented voice and flipped them off. Inuyasha had to force his shoulders down to their natural place and not up around his ears. It was okay, she was just nervous, it was just one mistake. Oblivious to the still yelling woman and her frightened companions, Kagome peeled out of the rest of the driveway and sped through the neighborhood way too fast. 

“Woah! Cool it! We’re not in a big hurry, just relax and pay attention to the damn signs.”

The car lurched forward, almost sending them into traffic.

“Oops! I forgot which pedal was which again…”

“Fuck, just let me drive.”

“How about I sit on your lap again? That really helped last time.”

Inuyasha knew it was bullshit. He was more than reasonably certain their near-accidents had been on purpose as well. But even so, he found himself nodding and going over to the driver’s side. Kagome stood as much as she was able and he gulped when he saw how her skirt had ridden up to the point that he could just barely see a hint of her lacy white panties. And then he was sitting down and she was on his lap again, warm and solid and smelling so good he could die. Carefully, they left the neighborhood and maneuvered the streets.

Figuring a little revenge was in order, he smoothed his hands up her sides until they were on her ribs, just below her breasts. He could feel the underwire of her bra. Bringing his hands down again, he brought his fingers together and clasped them in front of her stomach, feeling her muscles twitching through the thin material of her sweater. The skirt she wore was so short that his wrists were resting on the bare skin of her thighs. 

“I-Inuyasha!” she gasped.

“Hmmm?” He decided it would be more fun if he played innocent.

“N-nothing. I just w-wanted to know where we should g-g-go?” Seeming to recover a fraction of her confidence, she began to squirm in his lap like she’d done last time. 

Smirking, he replied, “Wherever you want to take me.”

Unable to help himself, he had to push her further. It was like a fever had taken over him. He wasn’t sure what was normal behavior anymore. All he knew was that maybe masturbating to her had made things a million times worse and now he wanted to make her as crazy as he was. Since her skirt was so short, he decided that would be a good place to start. 

Slowly, he brought his hand between her legs and ran the pad of his index finger along the inside of her thigh until he met the scratchy lace of the edge of her panties. With a squeak from the girl on his lap serving as his only warning, the car swerved and nearly hit a group of small children before he managed to hit the brake. 

Fuck, he’d gone too far. 

“Just let me take over, Kagome. Get in the other seat.”

“But I—”

“Just do it.”

With a grumble, she unbuckled and climbed over to the passenger seat. Inuyasha was very proud of himself for not looking at her ass.

“Let’s go to Wacdonalds.”

Inuyasha sighed. As a male college student, he’d been living off the stuff for years. But since it was where she wanted to go, he didn’t complain. This was one birthday gift he could actually give her without fearing anything more than an upset stomach. 

A silent agreement ensured they weren’t going to talk about what just happened, though with the sly glances Kagome kept sending him, he wondered how long things would stay that way before he broke. After they ordered, they went to sit down in the furthest corner of the restaurant, away from all the screaming children and tired mothers. 

Out of nowhere, he began to feel nervous. His palms were sweating and he felt hot all over. Was he sick? When Kagome put her elbows on the table, leaned forward, and rested her pretty face in her hands, he knew what was going on and that his body had realized it before his brain could.

They were on a date.

Was this his fault? He had offered her lunch, after all. Or had she somehow used her newfound secret sexy powers to manipulate him into this situation? He didn’t know. And he didn’t exactly care. The more she looked at him with that familiar adoration that he now found exciting instead of bothersome, her pink, plump mouth curved in that delicious tiny smile he wanted to kiss off her face, the more the rest of the world faded away and she was all that existed. 

Barely catching himself before he did something stupid and touched her, he cleared his throat. “So, uh, how was the end of your party?”

“Awful. You weren’t there.”

Inuyasha felt his face flush. Fuck, how could she say something like that to him? Her smile grew the longer it took him to answer and he just knew she was kicking her feet under the table like the happy, hyper child she would always be. His stomach fluttered.

“I’m sure you enjoyed yourself. Seems like you have a lot of friends.”

“But you’re still my very best friend forever, more than anyone.”

He snorted and looked away from her captivating face. Their number was called and he practically flew to get it, breaking out in a cold sweat when he realized he had to return to the table where the she-devil sat waiting, plotting new ways to tempt him. Carefully, he carried their food back and set it down before her, sitting down like he was waiting for a bomb to go off. But she just smiled and stared at him, dipping a fry in her chocolate milkshake.

“Who’s Hojo?” As soon as he blurted that out, her face lit up, and he nearly groaned aloud at how stupidly impulsive he was around her.

“Don’t worry, Inuyasha. You’re the only boy for me.”

“Stop!” he said loudly. A little too loudly, judging by the stares he was getting from the restaurant’s other patrons. Lowering his voice, he continued, “Stop it. I’m with Kikyo, Kagome. I’m with your  _ sister _ .”

She threw a fry at him, lower lip trembling. “I know that! But that doesn’t mean I can’t try. This could be the last time I have you to myself.” To his great relief, the trembling stopped, an angelic look replacing it. “Take me to the park.”

Figuring it would avoid any more uncomfortably real conversation, he agreed. They finished their food quickly and he drove them back to their neighborhood, stopping at the little park they’d grown up going to every day. Before he even took the keys out of the ignition, she was halfway to the swings. Chuckling to himself, he ran over and pushed her, her shrieks of delight as she flew higher and higher in the air making him smile wider than he had since he’d gone off to school. 

“Did Kikyo tell you—” she said just before he pushed her again, “—that she’s moving in with—” another push, “—Suikotsu?”

“What?” he growled, grabbing the chains and pulling her to an abrupt stop. He twisted her to face him.

Kagome’s cheeks were flushed a beautiful pink and her full lips were parted. She knew he was mad and she liked it. Her wavy black hair, tousled by the wind, was charmingly messy, like someone had taken their clawed hands and grabbed her by the silken strands in a particularly passionate embrace. 

Touching her tongue to her lower lip for a fraction of a second, she said, voice breathless, “He transferred to your school last semester. Didn’t you know? Kikyo talks about him non-stop, and they text like,  _ all _ the time. They’re the same major and competing for top of the class. She figured it would make sense and save money if they rented a place together.”

The half-demon’s hazy mind tried to comprehend what she was telling him. Tearing his eyes away from her maddening mouth, he processed the information. 

Suikotsu had been Kikyo’s best friend in high school. Really, her only friend. Other than him, anyway, and a few friendly acquaintances. Suikotsu seemed to be the only one who could get the otherwise stoic girl to open up. Their close relationship had made him insecure on more than a few occasions, but since he trusted her and knew she’d never cheat on him or lie to him, it wasn’t as much of a bother as it could have been. But still, he’d been relieved when he’d gone off to a different school for college. Great, now that fucker was back to test his relationship. When would it end?

And oh fuck, he’d transferred  _ last _ semester. Kikyo hadn’t said a thing! Mentally, he traced back when his girlfriend began to act standoffish, and sure enough, it was sometime at the beginning of last semester. But they’d still spent almost every night together, and the sex had been, if not regular or adventurous, sex, and that was something. How did Kagome know all that but not him? The sisters had never been particularly close, personality and age differences seeing to that, and for her to know something and not him was disturbing. 

The thought occurred to him that Kagome may be lying, teasing him or testing him, trying to get under his skin. As soon as he thought it, he knew it wasn’t true. Kagome would never really lie to him. He’d stake his life on that. That meant she was now more trustworthy than his girlfriend. But maybe Kikyo was keeping it a secret from everyone and Kagome had gone snooping. But that wasn’t quite reassuring either. Unless Kikyo just thought it was a non-issue and didn’t care much about Suikotsu and that was why it had never come up… Damn it, he was spinning stories, desperately trying to convince himself. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t jealous.

What shocked him was that he realized it was true.

Inuyasha really, truly, honestly wasn’t jealous. His head told him he should be, which was why he’d reacted like that, but his heart was basically shrugging. Looking down at the concerned girl in the swing he still held captive, the caged organ betrayed him and began to beat harder and faster the longer he looked at her. Fuck, he’d been more jealous over her and that kid at her party than he was hearing about how his girlfriend had avoided telling him his old rival was back and that they were going to cohabitate. Dread filled him. Oh gods, Kagome had done something to him. Years of forcing her presence on him like a burr on a sweater or gum in hair had gotten her stuck in his system. 

The girl shifted in her seat, exposing a little more of her thighs. If her skirt inched any higher, she’d be exposing herself to him. Inuyasha’s mouth went dry and he had a sudden explicit and far too realistic image of him fucking her in that swing, impaling her on his hard cock as she screamed her pleasure, rocking back and forth, begging him for more.

He let go of the swing as if it burned him. 

“We should go.”

She was obviously disappointed. “Can I have a quick driving lesson on the way back?”

At this point, he didn’t think his dick could stand it. “No!” he said, harsher than he’d intended to.

Kagome’s big brown eyes began to water. Instant panic flooded his veins. Without realizing it, he was reaching for his pockets, intending to give her money to stop being sad and then they’d go buy candy just like when she was little and had scraped her knee. 

Damn it all, she had him trained good. 

“D-do you hate me? For telling you about Kikyo?” she sniffled.

Fighting the urge to put his arms around her, he shook his head. “No, gods no. I’m sorry, Kagome, it’s not your fault. I just… Well, it sucks.”

Nodding, she dried her eyes. “I told you before, but I really do think of you as my best friend in the whole world, forever and ever. I always have.”

Inuyasha cringed. He could sense he was about to be roped into something and they both knew he wouldn’t say no. Even if she didn’t have a way of getting him to do whatever she wanted, the guilt he felt over making her cry and thinking dirty thoughts about her guaranteed she’d get her wish.

“The end of the year dance is coming up in a couple weeks.” Shyly, she glanced at him from underneath her lashes before looking down at her lap. “I always wanted to go with you. But it’s okay if you don’t want to. It’s just a stupid dance. Hojo asked me already, so I could just—”

“I’ll go!” he said quickly, an instant reaction to that idiot kid’s name. Inuyasha laughed nervously, embarrassed. Shit, that was the same dance he and Kikyo had skipped to have a fuck-a-thon in the back of his van. Suddenly, he was having second thoughts. “Uh, you sure you want me to go with you? I’m a little old for that. I don’t think they’d let me go to a school function.”

Both of her hands, quick as lightning, reached out and grabbed one of his, squeezing it tight. Her big eyes pleaded with him.

“Please, Inuyasha? No one will care. It would mean everything to me!”

A few seconds passed where all he did was stare at her. Kagome was precious. He would protect her, protect that innocent infatuation with him that was as much a part of her as the color of her eyes and not take advantage of it. He was a better man than his basest desires wanted him to be. 

Thoughts of what Kikyo would think he quickly pushed away. If she didn’t think he should know about Suikotsu, then she didn’t need to know about what he’d be doing with Kagome.

“Okay.”

Overjoyed, she jumped to her feet, hopping up and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. It lasted for just a moment but it burned him, branded him. Smiling mischievously, she took his hand and laid her head on his shoulder, snuggling into him. Inuyasha was glad she couldn’t see how red his face was or how he kept licking his lips.

“The sky looks like an Easter egg,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around his arm and imprisoning the limb between her breasts. He almost groaned aloud. “So pretty. You make everything magical, Inuyasha.”

It took every ounce of strength he had not to take her in his arms and kiss her properly.

After that, Kagome didn’t come around anymore. Unreasonably depressed, Inuyasha sulked around the house, refusing to go outside. Izayoi laughed at him, her frighteningly insightful maternal instincts telling her the reason for his funk was Kagome. Her advice was to write her a love letter filled with his feelings. There was no way in hell he was doing that. 

Toga gave him a stack of singles and told him there were dozens of places downtown that would make him forget about Kagome for a few hours. There was no way he was doing that, either, though he did keep the money. 

What bothered him the most was that it didn’t seem to even occur to his parents that his bad mood was because of Kikyo, his girlfriend that everyone seemed to have forgotten about. What was even worse was that he had to force himself to be mad about Kikyo in order to distract himself from the pathetic longing he felt for Kagome.

Why had she stopped coming over?

He knew she had school. Now that it was no longer the weekend, she couldn’t wake him up and spend the day with him anymore. Since she’d always come to him before, he’d never had to seek her out, and he had no idea where she’d be when she wasn’t at home, and he didn’t want her mother to know he was coming over of his own free will lest it get back to Kikyo. 

The only time he saw her now was when she went to bed. Every night, she still gave him his three kisses. He still watched like an obsessed stalker creep, which he began to fear he was becoming. Especially once the weather turned summery and she began going to sleep naked.

The first time it had happened, his cock had jumped up so fast that he felt lightheaded from the rush of blood down to his shorts. His three kisses had never seemed more like an invitation. Lust ferociously raced through his veins and made a home in his gut, a pleasurably stabbing pain. Inuyasha wondered if she knew he was watching and did it on purpose. He wondered if she touched herself like he did, imagining the things he did. He wondered what would happen if he jumped through the open window and seduced her out of her slumber.

Days crawled by and then it was Saturday. Since the girl next door had remained next door, sleep had not been easy to get, and so Inuyasha laid in bed, having woken a couple hours before sunrise, staring at his ceiling until the room lit up, imagining the patterns of light rearranging themselves into Kagome’s face or spelling out the letters of her name. He didn’t even realize when the doorbell rang, the sound not catching his attention at all until he heard Kagome’s chipper voice, at which point his ears stood straight up and he bounded out of bed and threw open his door.

“I’LL BE RIGHT DOWN!” he called, putting his clothes on in haste.

It occurred to him that he didn’t even know what the girl was there for. Did she even want to see him? She usually just came through his window. Well fuck, now he was embarrassed. But the need to see her overwhelmed that feeling and he shamelessly ran down the stairs, trying not to trip over his own feet, feeling like a dog whose master had just returned. His face flamed at the thought, getting darker when he saw her standing there in the shortest skirt yet, a pastel lavender that invoked innocence yet made him want to stick his face up there.

Kagome smiled at him just as she always had, like she hadn’t ignored him for a week straight.

“My friends and I looked all week for a dress and I couldn’t find one, so I thought maybe you’d like to help me.”

The poor half-demon couldn’t even summon up the will to pretend to be annoyed. “Wanna go right now?”

Face brightening, she nodded, and waved to Izayoi who was standing silently observing them, a hand pressed to her lips as she looked torn between crying and laughing. 

The drive to the mall was spent in a comfortable silence. Inuyasha didn’t know how to berate her for not invading his personal space for an entire week without sounding just as weird as she was. Kagome seemed to be content staring out the window and bobbing her head to whatever music was on the radio, switching the station after almost every song. Before, he would have slapped her wrist and yelled at her and she would have pulled out her crocodile tears and he would have pulled over and yelled some more before finally giving in and trying to make her feel better. But now he thought her radio station ADD was…cute. 

Gods above, Kagome was  _ cute _ .

When she held his hand on the walk inside, he didn’t pull away like he normally would have. Instead, he laced his fingers with her own. Inside, he was still reeling from the discovery that she was everything he wanted. 

The girl next door dragged him to the nice side of the mall and he wondered if she was expecting him to pay for this. When her eyes lit up and she smiled and pointed out a dress she thought was nice, he was prepared to empty his accounts for some cheaply-made overpriced product she would only wear once.

“Oh my gods, Inuyasha, it’s perfect!”

“You found the one already?” He had expected a girl like her to take forever in the mall, trying on everything at least once. Inuyasha felt like punching himself when he began to feel down. When she had announced they were going shopping, he had been expecting to spend the whole day together.

“It’s beautiful! Wait here while I try it on, okay?”

When she came back out, he inhaled the wrong way and choked on his own spit. 

Fuck, but she was gorgeous. He wished she had stayed in the dressing room and invited him in, because every guy in the store waiting for their own woman was now fixating on her. The dress was a floor-length ivory piece in a simple cut. Her shoulders were bare and the boned bodice pushed her cleavage up and beyond the sweetheart neckline. Golden skin contrasted with angelic wedding white and he wanted to take her hair down from its ponytail and see the waves crash around her face. Deep inside, his solar plexus had transferred some sort of flaming feeling to his gut and he was literally trembling. 

“What’s wrong with your face? Do you hate it?”

It took him a second to register what she’d said. “Fuck no. I mean, uh, no, Kagome. You look good. Hurry up and get dressed so I can pay for it.”

She gasped, brown eyes going wide. “No way! It’s way too expensive. I can’t let you do that. Anyway, I asked you to go with me. I should pay for it and find you a matching tie.”

“No way am I letting a kid pay for something like this. Let the adults handle these things, Kagome.”

For a second, he thought she was going to punch him even though his tone made it obvious he was joking. But then she just smiled.

“Fine. You never gave me a birthday present anyway.”

Those departing words knocked him into a daze so strong that he barely cared that he was spending over a grand on a dumb dress. Kagome chattered happily, clutching the garment bag to her chest, while he thought of how different things would be if she had gotten the present she really wanted. 

Maybe there was still time.

“You up for another driving lesson?”

He guessed there was something different about the way he said it, because the way she looked at him was suddenly very serious. 

“That sounds fun. Thanks, Inuyasha.”

Inuyasha didn’t say anything when she didn’t even bother entering through the passenger side, just got right in his lap and carefully put her dress where she should have been sitting if they cared anything at all about the person they were about to hurt. The skirt she was wearing was even shorter than the one for her uniform and he was already hard. She started the engine, the firm globes of her ass shifting until his bulge was cradled between them. Kagome shivered and somehow they both got it together enough for him to direct her to a parking lot of an abandoned supermarket. 

“Let’s work on parallel parking,” he said, surprised that his voice was so casually steady when his hand was shaking on her inner thigh. “First, let’s reverse…” 

He babbled advice at her, not even knowing if what he was saying was right or if she was going to fail her test. Fuck, but she smelled so good. His claws met the thin lace of her panties and he tore them away, heart pounding in his chest. Kagome completely gave up on driving and moaned, shifting to grant him easier access. She was so hot and unbelievably wet that he couldn’t help but to immediately withdraw and bring his fingers back to his mouth for a taste.

Kagome grabbed his wrist. He froze in dread. Fuck, was she going to stop him? His eyes met hers in the rearview mirror and he watched in pained lust as she took his fingers into her mouth and sucked her pussy juice. 

Inuyasha groaned aloud and brought his other hand under her top to caress her hard nipples. No bra. He had suspected, but the shirt was thick enough and she was perky enough that he hadn’t been completely sure. Her lips were wrapped around his index finger and she sucked him to the knuckle, her tongue teasing him all the way. Gods above, what would it feel like when he finally had his cock in that sweet and sour little mouth of hers?

She moaned and he realized he had been too distracted by her sexy show to give her pussy the attention it deserved. Inuyasha shifted her and spread her legs, wishing he had another mirror to show him her beautiful cunt, or better yet, that they were in the back of the van or in his bed. But remaining in the driver’s seat was the only thing that stopped this encounter from being too real and making either or both of them think about anyone or anything else. 

When she whimpered his name and unzipped him, he nearly lost it. That first touch of her hand on his cock felt like the first time ever. And then she leaned herself back against him and brought his lips to hers and he knew the world was never going to be the same. Her dripping pussy and soaked thighs were snuggled against his cock. Inuyasha’s hips had a mind of their own and he worked her against him, quickly gyrating to create the friction he desired while not stopping the mad caress of his palm grinding on her clit, his fingers pumping in her virginal canal. His other hand overflowed with her breast and he rolled the nipple with her thumb, marveling at how soft she was and how much she really did want him. 

The first gentle waves of her climax squeezed his fingers and she moaned into his mouth words he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear yet. Kagome’s body slackened and he doubled his efforts at bringing himself to his end.

The combination of giving her her first kiss and what he was sure was her first non-masturbatory orgasm drove him into a frenzy as she closed her thighs tight around him. Every brush of his cock against her clit made her squeak in a way that brought him that much closer, and when she got up the energy to work against him again, it was all over. His cum sprayed all over her thighs, her naked torso, and the steering wheel. Jets and jets to the soundtrack of her name. When it was over, they were both out of breath and sweating. 

Fuck, it was already this good and he hadn’t even fucked her yet.

Inuyasha grabbed some napkins from the center console and cleaned up as best as he could. When Kagome tried to leave his lap, he put an arm around her and held her close. The two of them didn’t need words. She knew what he was trying to say, and stayed in a light doze in his embrace the whole way home.

When he pulled into the driveway, Kagome grabbed her dress, scrambled out of his grip, and slid out the door. For a second, she just stared at him, lower lip trembling. The sunset highlighted her bruised lips, her tousled hair, her stained skirt. She was so fucking beautiful just looking at her was like a punch to the gut. 

Kagome moved quickly and jumped up, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Before she could run, he grabbed her wrist and whipped her back around. One hand on the nape of her neck and the other around her waist, he gave her a real kiss, fulfilling her birthday wish until her grip slackened and she dropped her stupidly expensive dress to the ground.

For another week, he didn’t see her except for the three kisses at bedtime.

Inuyasha figured he should give her some time. After all, she was pretty inexperienced in these things, having waited for him to come to his senses for all their lives. But a fucking week!? That was too damn much.

That Saturday, he waited until his mom was out at her pilates class and Kagome’s mom was grocery shopping. It was time to make his move. 

For the first time ever, he showed up for Kagome unannounced. He had almost gone for her window, but he figured that was pushing it a little.

“Hello— Oh, hi, Inuyasha. What’re you doing here?”

He almost told her to cut the shit, but then he saw the dark circles under her eyes. “Can I come in?”

It took her a second, but she nodded and stepped aside. 

Kagome led him to the backyard and inside the wooden playhouse her father had built for the girls when she was just a toddler. He’d spent many summers in it forced to play house and pimp out his action figures as dates for her dolls. The old kitchen set was pushed into a corner and the floor was covered in cushions and blankets. Dimly, he remembered that her birthday party had included a sleepover for her best girl friends and he’d had to restrain himself from peeking and seeing if it was more Cosmo or Brazzers.

“What do you want, Inuyasha?”

He snorted. All his life she’d been following him around and bugging him incessantly, and the one time he shows up she asks what he wants? What the fuck was this?

Inuyasha was honest. “I wanted to see your face. That’s all.”

Her cheeks pinkened. “You know, when I was little, I used to dream about us getting married and living in here. Isn’t that dumb?”

He laughed. “We’d have to redecorate. And I’m gonna evict your dolls.”

Eyes back to being bright, she smiled. It reminded him of the other reason he had come over and he leaned over and kissed her. Immediately, she melted against him, her hands going from his shoulders to his hair where she stroked his ears. With a groan, he lowered her to the cushions. Had it ever been this good with Kikyo? Had she ever gotten him this excited, made him feel this mushy inside, evoked these feelings of protection and pure adoration? 

Fuck it. There was no point in comparing the two Higurashi girls any longer. He and Kikyo were over and had been for a while. Kagome had obliterated her memory and whatever else was left over. Inuyasha knew in his gut that he had never felt this way before and no one else would be anywhere close.

Kagome flipped them over and straddled him. Her eyes held the same feverish excitement his own did, tracing his face and lingering on his lips. But something was holding her back.

“What is it, Kagome?”

She looked away. “It’s just… I more than like you, Inuyasha.”

He laughed. “I more than like you, too.” His hands raised her top and he caressed the sides of her stomach, feeling how the muscles fluttered and remembering she was ticklish there.

“But do you actually like me? Or is it just because I like you and...and you’re bored and there’s no one else around?”

He sighed and let his head fall back. “Fuck, Kagome. Okay. The past few weeks with you made me realize something. You and I belonged together all along. I was just too stupid and distracted to see it. Also, you’re really good at annoying the hell outta me. But now I love you just as much as you always loved me and I’m too far gone to ever go back.”

Kagome’s expression changed and she looked alarmed. What the fuck had he done now?

Oh shit.

“You love me?” Her voice was hushed and her smile was radiant.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. And I’m starting to think I always did.”

She grabbed him by both sides of his face and kissed him hard. “I wanna be on top again. I like making you squirm.”

If she hadn’t been taking his cock out of his jeans already, he was pretty sure his erection would have torn through the cloth by how fast he got hard after hearing that.

Her hands were blessedly quick in their work as she undressed the both of them, only moving things out of the way enough to bare them to one another’s greedy grasps. In one sudden movement, she plunged down on his cock, a strangled gasp leaving her lips.

“Kagome!” he growled out, worried for her even as his eyes crossed at the incomparable feeling of being inside her. “Fuck, are you okay?”

Tears raced down her face and he sat up in a panic, holding her close. Their joined parts pulsed together and it was a struggle not to moan at every small movement. 

“It’s okay, Inuyasha. I’m not hurt or anything. I’m just so  _ happy _ .”

When she kissed him, he believed it.

Even after all the pent-up longing and dirty fantasies and agonizing lust, now that the moment was finally here, Inuyasha could be nothing but gentle and marvel at the beauty that was Kagome. Her cheeks were flushed the most delicate pink in existence and the way she moved on top of him was complete perfection. His hands didn’t know what to do with themselves. One minute they were grabbing her ass, helping her grind on him. The next, they had wandered to her breasts and made her throw her head back with how they pinched and caressed her rosy buds. Then he was cupping her face, his thumb running against her lower lip, and she turned her face to kiss his palm and he felt like crying, too.

Nearing her end, Kagome was leaning back, her lips parted in a smile as she made sure he rubbed up against her sweet spot with every bounce she took. 

“Gods, Inuyasha, I love you, I’m in love with you, I love you so much…” The mantra continued and he would have joined in had his ability to speak or even form words in his mind not been taken by the sight and feel of the beautiful woman who somehow after everything still wanted him. 

Kagome brought his hand to her clit and his fingers rubbed her in circles. Inuyasha was glad he at least retained the brain capacity to do that much. But even that was stripped away when she grabbed that hand and brought it to her lips, her brown eyes clashing with his as she took his fingers into her mouth once again.

Inuyasha came so hard he went blind for a second. Either that or he had passed out or something. By the time his soul returned to his body, he realized that Kagome was happy and sated, curled up against him on the floor. 

“You’re the only one I’ve ever loved, Inuyasha. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t stop smiling!”

He chuckled and kissed her hand before putting it back on his naked chest. “You’re everything to me, Kagome. I love you and nothing is ever going to change that.”

They stayed there together, kissing and talking and dozing, until their parents came home. Kagome kicked him back to his place and told him to come by in the morning, which he guessed was for the best since as far as their families were concerned he was still dating Kikyo.

Fuck. He forgot about Kikyo.

When he got back to his room, he saw he had ten missed calls from his girlfriend. Holy shit, had Kagome told her already? But the times were when they had still been together in the playhouse. He guessed she was finally responding to his old messages or whatever. It didn’t even hurt that she had been ignoring him. All he wanted to do was call her and get this over with so he could finally be with the right Higurashi girl.

“Inuyasha! What in all the hells took you so long!?”

He rolled his eyes. “I was busy. Look, Kikyo—”

“You need to be better at checking your phone, how many times have I told you that? Ugh, but I don’t care about that anymore. I have something important to say to you and it can’t be over the phone.”

“Fuck, Kikyo, I’m not driving all the way to campus just so you can tell me a secret. Text me like a normal fucking person!”

He was about to hang up and take his own advice when she yelled, “I’m pregnant, you idiot! We have a lot to discuss. I’ll get a ride there tomorrow. Meet me at the park.”

Inuyasha was still holding the phone long after she had ended the call.

Pregnant. Kikyo was pregnant. How was that even possible? He always used protection! Except for that time with Kagome, but that was a heat of the moment kind of thing… Oh fuck, what if he had knocked her up, too!? Inuyasha forced his thoughts away from cousin-siblings and sister-wives and tried to remember the last time he and Kikyo had been intimate. It was going over two months now, maybe even three. When he had taken that condom off, it had leaked, but he had been entirely sure that had happened after the act when he got lazy with his claws. But what if it hadn’t?

He was going to be a dad. Kikyo was going to be a mom. And Kagome… She was going to be someone’s aunt.

Kagome showed up in her window and blew him his three kisses before turning out the light.

Inuyasha didn’t sleep that night. Every time he thought of Kagome, all he could see was how she’d looked when she was on top of him, crying with happiness. He didn’t want anything to destroy that. Was there any chance she would be able to understand and stay with him? It wasn’t going to be a normal situation, but fuck, they loved each other so much that it had to work.

The next morning, he showed up at Kagome’s house, not wanting to break his promise but more than anything wanting to see her. Unlike him, she showed up lovely and rested. The second she saw him, she beamed and threw her arms around him. Inuyasha held her tight, pressing his face against her neck and savoring the feel of her. He didn’t deserve to kiss her. Not yet. Not until they talked.

“Let me drive you to school.”

“What, no driving lesson?”

His chuckle was weak and she gave him an odd look which evaporated when he took her hand. The ride was spent in a dream-like silence, his somber mood having affected her. 

“Just tell me,” she said, eyes already filling with tears.

Fuck, but he would rather die than make her cry. 

“...Kikyo’s stopping by today. For a visit.”

“Oh.”

“I’m going to have a talk with her.”

She perked up a little. “About us?”

“I… Kagome, Kikyo’s pregnant.”

She slammed the door and ran out before he could ask if she still wanted to be with him. Based on her reaction, he guessed that was going to be a no. He felt numb and sick and he hated himself. Fuck, but he had known not to touch her in the first place. This agony was what he deserved. He only hoped she wasn’t hurting half as much as he was.

Inuyasha was in such a daze that he wasn’t sure how he made it all the way to the park without mowing anyone or anything down. His heart leaped when he saw the black-haired girl in the swing. Now that she had cooled off, she might be ready to listen to him beg and plead. 

The wind blew her hair back and he saw that it was Kikyo.

“Hey.” 

He sat at the swing next to her and she gave him a one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“How are ya?”

“Just got done throwing up in the trash can. Other than that, I’m okay.”

He sighed. “How is this going to work, Kikyo? Do you want me to move in to your apartment or are you going to come home? I’ve got enough to get us a place.”

“Neither.” He looked at her questioningly. “Inuyasha, we’ve been together for a long time.”

“We don’t have to get married!” he said defensively.

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” She took a deep breath. “Like I was saying, we’ve been together for so long that I thought I should say this in person. For the past few months, I’ve been sleeping with Suikotsu.”

He nearly fell out of the swing. “So it’s his?”

She nodded. “You’re suspiciously smiley for a guy who just found out his girlfriend has been having an affair.”

Inuyasha tried to push the corners of his mouth back down without success. 

“Uh, sorry?”

Kikyo smiled. “I guess what my mom said was true. You and Kagome have been hanging out quite a bit since you’ve been back, huh?”

He nodded. “We’re… We’ve… I love her. I know what we did wasn’t right, but I guess we’re even.”

“Kagome’s loved you longer than I did. I think she loves you more, too.”

The way Kagome had looked that morning played over and over in his mind. “Fuck, Kikyo, she thinks the baby’s mine.”

“Oh hell, Inuyasha. If you want, I can talk to her.”

“No, I need to do it.”

“If you insist. Tell Kagome I said hello whenever she deigns to speak to you again. And don’t tell anyone else about this! Suikotsu and I are waiting.”

“Fine. Have a good trip back.”

He helped her to her feet and she hugged him again.

“I never thought we’d turn out like this, Inuyasha,” Kikyo said, sounding genuinely sorry. “I thought we were so perfect, you and me. How we had that beautiful love story of the boy and girl next door, in love all their lives. That’s not my story, but it’s still yours.”

The first thing Inuyasha did was break the speed limit in his mad dash back to Kagome’s school. He waited for hours, practicing what he was going to say to her over and over again in his head until he was sure he had all the right words, a perfect verbal bouquet to present to her and earn her forgiveness. 

It was exactly two and a half hours after school let out that he figured out the little bitch had played hooky.

Cursing to himself, he drove back home, parking diagonally on his lawn and almost knocking over the mailbox. Stomping over to her door, he knocked almost hard enough to put a hole through the solid wood door.

Mrs. Higurashi answered and she did not look happy.

“Inuyasha. Which one of my daughters are you after today?”

It was a struggle not to turn tail and run when facing down such an icy cold woman, but he managed. 

“Kagome. Always and forever, it’s going to be Kagome. Is she here? Please, Mrs. Higurashi!”

Her stern expression faltered in the face of his honesty, but then a door slammed upstairs and it was back in place.

“Kagome’s staying with a friend. Feel free to come by later.”

Bullshit. Inuyasha could smell her. Feel her. Briefly, he considered barging in and going up to her room, but he figured that would just cause more problems.

“Tell her I have something important to say that changes everything. Please.”

When he got back to his room, an idea occurred to him. He could signal to her from his window tonight. She’d come over and he’d tell her everything and they’d make up and everything would be back to being perfect.

But he didn’t get his three kisses that night.

Kagome was “out” the rest of the week. He considered trying to just come in through her window, but he checked and it was locked and he really didn’t want to break it. Not yet, at least. If she ignored his calls and texts (fuck, had she blocked his number!?) for another week, he just might.

All the letters he left in the playhouse and on her doorstep remained there. Using her psychic stalker senses, she made sure to only leave the house when he was out or in the shower. It was driving him crazy.

The limo that pulled up to her house Saturday night gave him the perfect idea.

In a rush, he dressed in his old suit which barely fit him now. Since she hadn’t been around to remind him, he hadn’t remembered a corsage or anything. But that wasn’t important. What was important was somehow trying to tail a limo while driving a shitty and conspicuous van.

The end of year dance was held in the same hotel it had been in when Inuyasha was a student. Double-parking, he hurried in, successfully blending in with a big group of students. Fuck, but he had forgotten how bad high school kids smelled. At least the dim light hid his own sweat stains. 

“Is that you, Inuyasha Taisho? Get the hell out of here! I can’t suspend you anymore, but I can sure as shit call the cops!”

Now that he wasn’t a student anymore, he could finally say it. “Fuck off, Coach Kōga!”

And then he saw her. Looking just as angelic as he’d known she would when she got all dolled up in that dress, only much sadder. Then he saw the guy she was with. Fuck, really? Not that Hojo asshole. Marching over, he shoved her stupid back-up date out of the way and put his hands on her hips.

“I thought I was your date tonight.”

Kagome looked at him like she was questioning whether she was dreaming or not. “Inuyasha? What are you doing here?”

“You asked. I came.”

She tried to pull away from him but he held her tight. “Let me go! Damn it, isn’t it enough that you completely broke me? Do you still need to screw with my head?”

He smiled. “Kikyo’s kid isn’t mine.” He twirled her around and dipped her until one foot was off the floor, the way he remembered she had always wanted to dance ever since she was just a kid. And then he kissed her until neither of them could breathe anymore.

When she was back on both feet, she was flushed and confused, but she wasn’t close to tears anymore.

“You’re not… Then, are we…?”

He dug in his pocket and brought out the best birthday present he could think of. Three gifts, better ones than that fucking kid Hojo had given her. The dress, the kiss, and now this. He slipped the ring on her finger. For a moment or two, Kagome just stared at it.

“After everything, this better not be a fucking promise ring, Inuyasha, because I swear I’ll cut you.”

“Marry me, Kagome. Tonight, tomorrow, or ten years from now, whenever you decide. Please say yes.”

Kagome didn’t say yes, but she did scream and jump up and down in a way he had come to learn meant that she was extremely happy. Inuyasha kissed her when people started to look their way.

“I’ll take care of you forever, Kagome, I promise. And if there’s a baby in a few months, I’ll love you both.”

Her brow creased. “Baby? What baby?”

Fuck, was he going to have to give her the talk? This was something literally anyone else should have done before this point. 

“Well, it was the heat of the moment and we were both irresponsible. When two fertile people neglect to take precautions and do what we did, then—”

“I’m on the pill, you moron. Did you ask me just because of that?”

Inuyasha kissed her hard. “Thank fuck. And, uh, no?”

She slapped his shoulder. “Whatever. I’m keeping the ring.”

He kissed her again, unable to stop now that he realized nothing was stopping him. “One more song and then we’re going back to my room. We can even go through the window if you want.”

“Mmm, what if I don’t want to wait for the window? What if I want another lesson?”

The two of them ran out faster than a chaperone could tell them to make room for Jesus.


	3. Be My Angel

**Inuyasha is an ancient vampire eking out an existence in a dilapidated old house. When a young couple moves in next door, he suddenly finds he has more and more to look forward to every day and develops a lust for life...and his neighbor.**

**Three: Be My Angel**

Fifty years he had lived in this house. 

Inuyasha was old, older than most of the rest of his kind, and he had grown weary. The same vampires he had used to stalk the night with and make war on the race that had cast them out had been killed by them or had been completely assimilated into the 21 st century human lifestyle. But he could neither move forward or back. The last five-hundred years he had been simply going through the motions after losing his first love, and the previous fifty in particular had seen him running on fumes, even deigning to do something as pathetic as taking a human familiar. 

“You want anything while I'm out, old man?” Miroku asked, coming over to where Inuyasha sat staring out his window. “Like some sunglasses, or...” 

Inuyasha scowled at him. “For the last time, I can look at the sun just fine, idiot. Pay less attention to dumb myths.” 

Miroku smiled. “Whatever, old man. See ya tomorrow.” 

What he wasn’t telling his familiar was that sunlight did effect him. Inuyasha still didn’t trust the kid. Looking at the light was fine, but if he went out in it, he became weak and needed fearsome amounts of blood to sustain him rather than the few sips here and there he took per year. That and he was still toying with the idea of firing the fuck because he insisted on calling him “old man” when he was physically, at least, younger than his familiar. The years and lifestyle had turned his black hair silver and his brown eyes amber, but it wasn’t like he had wrinkles or something. 

He turned back and glared at the house behind his own. On the third story of his home as he was, he could see straight into their backyard. The old couple who had lived there before whom he had known since they were newlyweds had gone off to a nursing home to die and he just knew that some obnoxious family with a dog and 2.5 kids had moved in and was going to ruin his fucking life. 

A woman opened the sliding glass door and leaned her hip against it, looking at the plain backyard with a critical eye. Inuyasha’s breath caught in his throat. She was lovely with long black hair and sun-kissed skin. When a man showed up and put his arms around her, he nearly drew the curtains shut, but instead continued to watch. 

“Why the face? It’s your house.” The man kissed her neck. “Your very expensive house.” 

“Ugh, Hojo, stop it.” She shrugged him off. “I’m just trying to picture how I want it to look.” 

Undeterred, he continued to kiss her until she stopped squirming and just stood there. Hojo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the platinum band of his wedding ring glinting in the fading sunlight. 

“Okay Kagome, you win. You’re going to have to forgive me someday, though.” 

And he left. 

Men in tan jumpsuits entered the backyard through the gate and started to unload lawn furniture with Kagome directing them. He didn’t think anyone aside from himself noticed how tight her voice was. Later, when everyone else had gone, he was the only one to see her cry. 

Inuyasha’s new hobby was spying on the pretty housewife next door. After a few days, he knew her household’s schedule. 

Kagome woke up at six, Hojo at seven. 

Kagome showered, made breakfast, and ironed until eight-thirty. 

Hojo rolled out of bed, ate breakfast, tried to fuck his wife, and left for work in perfectly pressed suits. 

Kagome prepped her lunch, had a little too much wine, and kept the television on while she did chores. 

Hojo came back at five-thirty to watch shows that were basically softcore gore porn and Kagome served him a delicious homemade meal. 

Hojo tried to fuck Kagome and she sometimes gave him a handjob. 

Repeat. 

The only thing that made it worth watching was Kagome and the thinly-veiled contempt she had for her husband that Inuyasha doubted the fucker even noticed. 

When the weather changed, her routine changed along with it. Instead of staying inside all day, she was outside, gardening and sunning herself. The latter was his favorite. Feeling safe that the high walls and foliage that surrounded the yard kept the inside private, she never even dreamed that someone from the decrepit mansion next door was watching her unblinking, face nearly pressed to the cracked glass of the window. 

The bikinis she wore were tiny, made for showing off the body rather than swimming. She had one for every day of the week. Friday was red, and that was the first time he touched himself while watching her. Inuyasha couldn’t help it. It had been fifty years of solitude, and here was a beautiful woman oiling herself up and enjoying it. His hands itched to smooth the oil onto her skin, to dip below the tiny triangles of material that covered her breasts and smear oil there, slide it across her nipples. 

When she rubbed the insides of her thighs so excruciatingly slowly, he fixated on the red that covered what was between her spread legs. It was barely a covering. It stretched across her pussy and was snug between her lips so he could see them outlined. 

She paused and looked around. For a second, he thought she had heard him moan her name, but then she lay down on the reclining lawn chair and closed her eyes. When her hands drifted to her top and he heard that first sigh of pleasure, he vowed to never again regret being what he was so long as his hearing and vision were this acute. 

Kagome brushed her fingers over her chest until her nipples pebbled further, straining the thin fabric. One hand undid the tie at her neck and then reached behind her back and the bra slid off, a bright pool on the green grass. Her freed breasts jiggled and he grabbed himself at the base of his cock, not wanting to come yet when there was so much left to see. 

She ran her hands up her stomach and cupped her breasts, offering them to the sun. The red of her nipples came to match the color of her bikini when she pinched them, biting her lip. Not patient enough to tease herself, she soon wiggled out of her swimsuit bottoms, shaking them off her leg until they dangled from her ankle. Kagome plunged two fingers inside herself straightaway, the heel of her palm grinding against her clit. 

Two fingers from her other hand she sucked into her mouth, bobbing her head like it was a cock she had in there. By the time she pulled them out, they were dripping with saliva, and she rubbed her nipples until they shone with her own spit. The hand she had below continued working without pause as she moved her heels higher up, bending her knees and spreading her legs almost like she was giving him a show. Her fingers were in her mouth again and this time she brought them to her cunt where she swiped them across her clit with rapid movements. Kagome’s hips left the seat and jerked into the air and she threw her head back, moaning her orgasm to the entire neighborhood. 

Inuyasha's cum blasted against the window with nearly enough force to crack it again. Fuck, but he wanted her. Wanted to fuck her and wanted to taste her. Drink her blood and steal the sunshine that ran through her veins. 

It rained the next day and that made him far more irritable than he was comfortable with. 

“Miroku, I need you to do something for me.” 

“That’s what I'm here for, boss,” he said, wincing with pain when Inuyasha bit into his wrist. 

He was feeding more now and with it came more energy. It might leave Miroku even lazier than usual, but already Inuyasha was feeling a hundred years younger. 

“Talk to the woman next door. Give her a copy of the gate key and tell her she can use the pool whenever she wants.” 

Miroku chuckled but the sound was weak. “Getting your rocks off to the hot housefrau, huh? Aren't you robbing the cradle? Or maybe she’s robbing the grave.” 

He smacked him on the back of the head. “Just get it done!” 

It took a few days for his familiar to catch Kagome at the right time. Inuyasha observed them from a different part of the house. Kagome was taking her trash to the curb. Miroku pounced when she brought out the recycling bin. 

“Howdy!” he said, all non-threatening charm. 

Kagome smiled at him and even though it was automatic and without feeling Inuyasha was still jealous. 

“Hi! You live in that big house?” 

“Nah, too gloomy for me. I work for the guy, though.” 

“Oh. Well, it’s nice to meet you.” 

“The old man asked me to give you the key to his back gate. He has a pool and says you can use it anytime and even transplant some of the plants for your own backyard as long as you water the garden.” 

“Oh, how nice of him! But we’re new to the area and still very busy getting settled, so my schedule’s not the most reliable. I wouldn’t want to disappoint him.” 

“It’s no problem, really. Even once a week or less. He knew the old couple that lived there before you and they always came over and watered his plants and stuff. The old man doesn’t go out anymore and it cheers him up when he looks outside and sees them.” 

Her face softened, no longer suspicious. “Okay. I’ll be sure to take care of them. Thanks...” 

He smiled. “Miroku. Mr. Taisho will be thrilled.” 

After that, she came to water faithfully but never used the pool. Inuyasha grew impatient, wanting to see her dripping wet in one of her tiny bathing suits with the material turned transparent. It was all he could think about. Every day, she looked up at the windows and waved, even though he made sure to stand at an angle where she couldn’t possibly see him. Was his presence the problem? What would push her to give him what he wanted? 

Miroku looked weaker than ever when he called him upstairs. 

“Yes, master?” 

Only a little surprised that he was addressing him properly, Inuyasha took another drink from his familiar’s wrist. 

“I need you to bring Kagome to me.” 

“You want me to kidnap her?” 

“No! Not yet. I want her to come to me. The hottest day of the summer so far is tomorrow and it’s record-breaking. Go to her house while she’s out running errands and make sure her air conditioning doesn’t work and all fans are out of commission.” 

Miroku did as told. 

The first day, she continued as usual, watering the grass and staying in the shade, loudly yelling at a repairman on the phone. 

The second day, when they still had not come, she kicked Hojo out of bed. That made her mood even worse and she stomped over to his yard, turning the hose on full blast and almost violently watering his garden. After a few minutes, she seemed to calm, and looked at the pool with longing, almost the way he was looking at her. Then she turned the hose down to a mere trickle and sprayed herself, smiling in relief. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but he jerked off to it anyway. Hojo started coming home later and later and it only made her more upset. 

On the third day, when the repairman still had not come, she gave in. 

Inuyasha watched her toss her sheer coverup on the ground. There was no wave for him this time. Kagome put her hair up and dove right in the pool, staying underwater long enough that he began to worry and racked his brain trying to remember how long he could hold his breath when he was a human. But then she burst through the surface, gasping for breath, and kicked her way across the pool, doing laps. 

Every day, she watered his plants quickly and jumped in the pool. Then the repairman showed up. 

Inuyasha disliked the guy on sight. He was deeply tanned with long black hair and striking blue eyes, just the way women liked. To tell the truth, he reminded him of himself when he had been mortal. That just made it all the more infuriating when he saw how Kagome looked at him. 

Miroku had been right about that desperate housewife stuff. She doted on the idiot, asking him questions she didn’t care about having answered and even bringing him lemonade outside while he worked on the unit. 

“You don’t mind if I sunbathe while you work, do you?” she asked innocently enough. 

The repairman, whose nametag read Kõga, wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled at her. 

“Not at all, ma’am! You go about your schedule and I'll try and get this fixed up for you ASAP.” 

She frowned. What a dense fucking idiot. 

Kagome disappeared inside her room and when she came back out again she was in her shortest, sheerest coverup and the red bikini. Even Kõga was distracted when she slipped out of the gauzy garment leaving her in just the bathing suit. 

Stretching out with a small smile of triumph on her face, she reclined on her favorite lawn chair. Arching her back, she let out a small moan, making it look like she was just trying to find a good position for tanning. Her nipples were hard and Inuyasha swore he could see the slightest bit of dampness on her bikini bottoms. 

“Uh, thank you so much for choosing Ookami Repair, ma’am. Everything’s all set and paid for and I hope you have a lovely day,” Kõga said all in one breath, glancing at her wedding ring before running for his van like a bomb was about to go off behind him. 

Kagome threw her tanning oil across the yard in frustration. In a huff, she came over to his yard and jumped in the pool. He guessed that was one way to give yourself a cold shower. For nearly an hour she swam laps until she collapsed on one end, out of breath and panting. He could hear her crying. 

After a few minutes, she glanced up at the house, blue eyes scanning the windows. Seeing nothing but dusty furniture, she looked around his yard. High walls, high foliage, just like she had. Sneakily, a guilty look on her face, she pushed aside one of her bra cups. Inuyasha was instantly erect. As she snaked a hand below the water, he grabbed himself, trying to pace himself so he could finish when she did. 

Not as theatrical as all the other times she had unwittingly masturbated for him, she finished in a hurry, bringing herself to a shuddering climax. The only nose she made was one tiny whimper, but he heard it all the same, enhanced hearing made all the stronger thanks to the amounts of blood he was taking. He memorized that sound and tucked it away for when his nights got too lonely. 

Kagome got out of the pool and stumbled back to her yard where she threw herself on her recliner, exhausted. Fuck, but Inuyasha wanted to drink the pool water now and see if he could taste her. 

That night, something amazing happened. It was worth an eternity of nights and he nearly didn’t believe it when he saw it. 

Kagome fell asleep in her chair. Hojo did not come home. 

Inuyasha waited until the sun had completely set. For the first time in he didn’t even know how many years, he left the decaying old mansion he had intended to make into his tomb. Hopping the barrier between their homes was easy, and finally he was where he had wanted to be for months now. 

The scent of her overwhelmed him almost as much as the sight of her did. She was on her side, expression clear of troubles, beautiful and unknowing. Inuyasha didn’t know how long he watched the rise and fall of her chest, hypnotized by the slow, even movements. She was so beautiful in the moonlight, even more than in the sunlight. His hand traced down her throat and marveled at how in his eyes her skin glowed in the dark. 

That was when she screamed. 

“Sorry!” he said, holding up his hands and backing away so she’d feel safe. 

“Who the hell are you!?” she screeched, eyes wide with fear. 

“Inuyasha. Your neighbor.” He inclined his head in the direction of his house. Thinking fast, he said, “Sorry, it’s just that you left the gate open and I saw you here and wondered if you were okay.” 

“Oh.” She seemed to calm down. “Sorry. I was kind of out of it. I was sure I locked it.” Her face screwed up in thought. “Wait, you live in  _ that  _ house there?” He nodded. “I thought... Uh, well, sorry for making you worry like that.” 

“It’s no problem. I'm glad we got to talk, actually. I wanted to invite you for dinner to thank you for all you’ve been doing for my garden.” 

Kagome flushed, obviously remembering what she had done just a few hours ago. “Thanks. I'll have to ask my husband if it fits into his schedule.” 

“Your husband isn’t the one who’s been taking care of my plants.” 

He knew he had gone a little too far as soon as he said it. He smiled at her to try and get the mood back, but all it did was make her stare at his fangs. 

Kagome backed up to the screen door, false smile pasted on her face the whole time. “Thanks for the offer! I'll let you know as soon as I know, Inuyasha. Have a good night!” 

She shut the door in his face. 

The next day saw both her yard and his own empty. And the next. And the next. Kagome wasn’t letting him watch her anymore. It hurt his feelings and made him angry. After a week of the cold shoulder, he sent Miroku over to ask why. 

This time, he caught her while unloading groceries. 

“Hey there, Kagome!” 

At first, she smiled, but then she recognized him. “Oh. Hey.” 

“You seem like you’re having a bad day. Let me help you with those.” 

She slammed the trunk of her car closed. “I’ve got it. Thanks.” 

“I’ve hardly seen you this past week. What made you become such a homebody?” 

Kagome smiled tightly, struggling to hold all her bags. “To be honest, Miroku, I was under the impression that your employer was an elderly invalid. I met him and he’s clearly a healthy young man.” 

“What does that have to do with anything?” 

“It shouldn’t have anything to do with me, but it does!” she snapped. 

“There’s no need to be embarrassed that you misunderstood, Kagome. ‘Old man’ is just a nickname I have for him, so it’s my fault.” 

“What do you even do for him, anyway? I thought you were a caretaker or nurse or something.” 

He smiled broadly to distract from the dangerous glint in his eye. “I’m his assistant. An extra-special super executive assistant.” 

“Well, Miroku,” she said, smiling back at him as threateningly as she could, “you can tell your boss that I can feel him watching me. I always did. And it creeps me out. Also, I never told you my name.” 

Inuyasha didn’t blame his familiar for not having anything to say to that. 

Weeks went by. Kagome had curtains put up and never went outside. Hojo started coming home earlier and earlier. Inuyasha stopped himself from going so far as to go to her house and spy on her, but he was painfully sure that the couple had reconciled. That shouldn’t be. It wouldn’t do. 

It was time for him to reenter the world. 

Most of the people he reached out to hadn’t heard from him in decades and had assumed he was dead. He made the rounds, trusting them to get the word out. Then, when he was ready, he called in a favor. This vampire knew a vampire whose familiar knew a guy... The list was extensive, but it got him what he wanted. 

Kagome’s husband lost his job. 

Now he was home all the time. Drunk and depressed, he spent his days doing nothing and ignoring the bills that piled up. It bothered Kagome so much that she started going outside again, disappointingly fully clothed and doing nothing more interesting than reading. 

He waited a full month to send her the invitation. 

Inuyasha penned it himself in calligraphy he had almost forgotten that he knew. When was the last time he’d had someone over? Not for dinner and not even to  _ be  _ dinner. She should know that she was special. He made sure to address it only to her and even put “red bikini” as the dress code. 

He didn’t even have to wait a full day before she accepted. 

The banging on the back door was like music to him and he took a deep breath. If his heart still beat, it would be going wild right now. 

Having drunk enough of Miroku’s blood and the blood of the many victims his familiar had brought him, he was again powerful enough to open the door without even touching it. Kagome neither noticed nor appreciated it, marching straight up to him and slamming the crumpled invitation in his chest. 

“I’m here,” she said, jaw clenched. 

Inuyasha raised a brow and inspected her. Red bikini, check. Her eyes were puffy and red, which wasn’t what he wanted, but she was still beautiful. Maybe he was a romantic, but he thought that emphasized the blue of her eyes wonderfully. If she had lived as long as he had, they would be an equally lovely silver. 

“I know you’re the one who got my husband fired!” 

He nodded. “That was me. I did that.” Inuyasha grabbed her wrists and kissed the bruises there, the ones she had thought to hide with make-up. “But I didn’t do this. I would never.” 

Kagome shivered and withdrew her arms from his grasp. “What do I have to do to make things go back to the way they were before?” 

He almost pitied her. Did she really think things were so great before an immortal intervened? 

Inuyasha bared his fangs in another smile. “You know what I want.” 

“No.” It was weak, hardly more than a whisper. 

“You want it too,” he said. He came closer to her until he could feel the heat of her body and there was hardly any space between them. “You always have.” 

Grabbing her hand, he led her to the fine room he had prepared for the two of them. The chaise lounge was upholstered with silk, a far cry from the plastic thing he had been watching her enjoy herself on. Inuyasha flung Kagome down on it and felt a deep pleasure at the way her chest heaved with gasps that signaled she was losing control of her emotions. Soon she’d lose control of the rest of what she was holding back. 

“Hojo means nothing to you,” he continued, sneering in disgust at the name. “Financial security and insurance you won’t die alone. You won’t have to worry about that with me.” 

“You’re not going to let me go, are you? You won’t fix this.” 

“This  _ is  _ fixing it.” 

Kagome stood to flee but he anticipated it, pushing her back down. Her muscles trembled and he indulged himself, running his tongue over her throat. 

“I’ve been watching you, Kagome. There is so much of you for us to explore. It made me want to live again.” With a parting kiss to the side of her neck, he reared up on his knees over her. “Touch yourself. Just like before. Make yourself come and I'll let you leave.” 

Her expression was skeptical, but she undid the strings of her top anyway. 

“You’re a pervert,” she said, but that look in her eyes wasn’t contempt, not like how she looked at her husband. “Just another peeping tom. You make me sick.” Her nipples were rock hard and she hadn’t even begun. 

“That’s right,” he said with a smirk, arranging her hair in a halo around her head. “Keep going, Kagome.” 

Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were bright, lips parted. “I mean it.” Her hands came up and cupped her breasts, thumbs brushing against her nipples. “Once I get out of here, I'm telling everyone. Hojo, the cops...” 

Inuyasha leaned down and kissed her, not surprised in the least when she responded with horny enthusiasm. 

“Tell me exactly what you’re going to do,” he purred, nibbling her lower lip before moving to her jaw. 

“I’m gonna...” She gasped and moaned when his fangs teased the side of her neck. “Fuck, I'm going to kick Hojo out.” 

“Good.” 

“A-and sell the house.” 

“Perfect.” His tongue spelled his name across her collarbone, every letter separated by a kiss. 

“And come right back here and punish you for spying on me!” 

Kagome tugged his shirt open, ripping a few buttons off in the process. Her hands explored the defined muscles of his chest and abdomen before undoing his belt. Inuyasha helped her, kicking off his pants while kissing her furiously. His fangs nicked her lips and he got the first taste of her blood. It called to his own and made it sing. 

When he entered her, his fangs did as well. Kagome cried out at the dual penetrations and her hips met his, hands on his shoulders and heels on his back drawing him in further. Slowly, he moved, hitting her deep and at the right angle every time, judging by her sharp gasps and cries. 

“Faster, please, Inuyasha! I need it. So, so bad.” 

His pace remained the same. He was ancient, he had done this thousands of times with hundreds of partners. This first time was one he wanted to cement in both their memories. Licking the wounds at her neck, he switched to her breast. He ran his tongue over her nipple and sucked on it. When his fangs entered her a second time, this time just above the breast he was worshiping, she came with a shriek of his name, her entire body quivering. 

This time, he went faster. 

At the same angle, hitting that same spot, every thrust had his long-deprived partner coming. Kagome was crying, laughing, moaning. The telltale tingling at the base of his spine gave him warning and he bit into his own wrist, smearing his blood on the wound he’d made over her heart and then putting it to her mouth. Her tongue swiped at the blood and she drank it unquestioningly, her pussy still pulsing around him. Inuyasha emptied himself inside her with one last punishing thrust. 

Withdrawing from inside her, he didn’t allow himself to relax, instead taking her to their room and putting her in bed. Her head lolled to the side sleepily and blood seeped down her neck and chest. 

“You’ll be weak for a few days,” he said, crawling in beside her. “I’ll have Miroku bring us as many barflies as he can. A wedding feast for us.” 

Kagome hummed in acknowledgement and curled up closer to him. 

Inuyasha couldn’t stop running his hands over her, playing with her nipples, toying with her clit. The stimulation made her hips stutter but she was too out of it to do more than that. 

“The police will investigate Hojo for your disappearance. They won’t find anything, but everyone will think he did something. Life will be hard for him.” 

“Good,” she said. 

He kissed her and tasted the sun. With her young blood and the blood they’d be drinking for the next few weeks, he’d have no problem going outside and enjoying it with her. She'd filled his nights with sunshine and no matter what objections his other children had about taking her to mate, he was never letting her go. 


	4. So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings

**Inuyasha** **was a normal guy with a normal life—but then the changes started. Sharper teeth, longer claws, more muscles, getting taller. Suddenly, he can’t be around his crush without doing something stupid. It’s like puberty all over again.**

**Four: So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings**

Inuyasha spent at least one-hundred and fifty minutes of every weekday staring at the back of Kagome Higurashi’s head. 

They only had three classes together, and in each of them she sat in the front while he slouched in the back. They had wanted to sit together, but she said she was too short to sit in the back and still pass the class and he hated being in front and having people stare at his ears or rub them for good luck before a test. Only Kagome could get away with that. 

While the teacher droned on about numbers and equations and formulas, he wondered what she had brought for lunch. When he had asked on their way to school that morning, she had just smiled, cheeks flushing pink, and whispered that it was a surprise. 

His eyes nearly crossed, drawn to the way she held her pencil. Her slim fingers bunched at the base and she stroked it with her thumb. Sometimes, she brought the eraser and just drew it against her lips slowly, so excruciatingly slowly that it made him sweat. 

There was something different about it this time, though. This time, watching her wasn’t enough. A sick feeling of an intense  _ something _ stirred inside him and he closed his eyes against it. 

“Inuyasha? Are you feeling okay?” 

The sound of her voice drew him out of the cloud of pleasurable agony and he opened his eyes. She was surrounded in a halo of red light and he reached out and grabbed her hand to make sure she was real. 

“Inuyasha?” she questioned, blushing for the second time today. “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing!” he said quickly. “Just tired.” He snatched his hand away. 

“Come on. Class is over.” 

It was so unbelievable that he had to look around to confirm it. Everyone was gone. It had seemed like only a second that he’d closed his eyes and he swore he had been awake the entire time. Maybe he really was tired. 

They walked to lunch together like they always did. Weird behavior already forgotten, Kagome practically skipped beside him. 

“I can’t believe you got away with sleeping in class!” she said. 

“Me neither.” 

“Were you awake when Ms. Kaede made us partners for our Golden Ratio project?” 

His ears perked straight up on his head. “For real?” 

“Yeah!” 

Whatever else she chattered on about was background noise as he thought about how monumental a development this was. He had known Kagome for three whole years now and had been wanting her from the start. At first, he had been too dumb to realize what he was feeling, then she had started dating Hojo in what he still hoped was an attempt to make him jealous (it had totally worked), and then they had become far too close of friends and he wasn’t sure where he stood with her. 

A project like this one for their hardest class would present him with plenty of time and opportunity to finally talk to her alone away from her hive mind of girl friends who stared at him and giggled and made him too nervous to even open his mouth. If they were alone together, he’d be able to make her like him. 

Lucky for him, Kagome decided to eat away from their table of friends and instead found a little-used table in a back corner. His heart began to beat faster, the noise pounding in his ears. When she sat down, he saw nearly to the tops of her thighs. All he could think about was sliding under the table and parting her legs, pressing his face right up against the warm scent that had tantalized him for years now. 

“Hellooo! Inuyasha? Are you spacing out again?” 

She waved her hand in front of his face and he shook himself like a wet dog. 

“Uh, sorry. What were you saying?” 

Kagome gave one angry huff before she was back to being the angel everyone thought she was. “I was telling you about the lunch I made for you. I worked really hard on it so you can’t complain, okay?” 

Inuyasha was already sniffing at the lunch box, his nose pressed against it the way he still wanted to be pressed against a different box of hers. Prying off the lid with his claws, he saw asparagus and roasted garlic, grilled shrimp, and a pudding that smelled of cinnamon, nutmeg, saffron, sugar, milk, and honey. 

When Kagome smiled at him so innocently and began to eat her matching meal, he didn’t believe for a second that she knew everything she had served him was an aphrodisiac. 

No, it was just his fevered brain imagining things. There was no way she would do something like this on purpose. 

“So, most people are doing a report, but since Ms. Kaede gave us so much freedom, I was thinking we could do a PowerPoint and—” 

“Hey, Higurashi!” 

Inuyasha audibly growled into his shrimp. Of course that fucker just had to show up and ruin everything. 

“Hey, Hojo! Did you want to come sit with us?” 

His round blue eyes took in their matching meals and shook his head. “No, I’m almost done. I just wanted to know if we were still on for Saturday?” 

“WacDonald’s at four, definitely.” She nodded as seriously as if this were some sort of mission. 

Hojo smiled and Inuyasha could tell that if she wasn’t holding her chopsticks the boy would be holding her hands, something he always did without a care for whether Kagome wanted his damp hands on her or not. 

“See ya then, Higurashi!” 

“What ‘project’ are you working on with that asshole?” Inuyasha grumbled. 

“It’s not like that! Hojo’s just… We’re… Ugh, you’re an idiot!” 

The way her mist-colored eyes sparkled made him think there was definitely something going on between them. 

“ _ I’m _ an idiot?! You’re an idiot! He doesn’t care about you. He just feels sorry for you!” 

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wanted to shove them back where they had come from. Kagome’s lower lip was trembling and her chopsticks fell to the table, the clatter making him cringe with guilt. 

“At least he’s not a j-jerk, you jerk!” 

When she grabbed her things and got up to leave, he lost it. His anger at himself, jealousy of Hojo, and longing for her wrapped up into one big ball of fury in his chest and he brought his fists down on the table, roaring wordlessly. 

The table exploded into splinters. 

Kagome stared at him, eyes wide in fear. The rest of the cafeteria was quiet, everyone looking at him with the same mix of fear and disgust.

Inuyasha had just fucked up. 

**O\o/O**

Both his parents met him in the principal’s office. 

“I’m sorry, Mom.” He couldn’t even look at her. 

“Oh, my poor puppy. Your hands are covered in blood! Oh gods, Toga, look at the splinters!” 

Inuyasha hadn’t even bothered to pluck them out. He didn’t deserve it. His skin had healed already and there was no more bleeding. As a half-demon, he had always been a quick healer, but something like this would have taken him the better part of two weeks before. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Taisho,” the principal greeted them. “I wish we had met under better circumstances. Please, come in. Bring the boy.” 

Shuffling after his parents, he concentrated all his remaining energy on not crying. 

His father started before any more small talk could be made. 

“Your secretary already briefed me on the matter you called us to discuss, Mr. Suikotsu. We are aware of what’s going on and will take the appropriate measures. I’m prepared to donate a new table for your lunch room and a scholarship for underprivileged students as well.” 

The principal seemed a bit flabbergasted by how his father had immediately walked in and taken charge of the situation in a domain that was not his own. 

“That’s all well and good, Mr. Taisho, but my main concern is your son. Inuyasha has no idea what’s happening to him. As you know, we are not a school that accepts students of demonic descent, but we made an exception because you assured us nothing like what has just happened would occur.” 

“We didn’t think it would,” his mother broke in. “I’m sorry, sir, but hanyō that survive beyond infancy continue to be a marvel even in this day and age and there hasn’t been a parenting book for us. Inuyasha showed no symptoms in his demon-only middle school, and after several violent incidents of bullying, we had him moved here.” 

“Everything was fine before this, wasn’t it?” 

“Be that as it may, we have the safety of our human students to consider. Now that he has… _ developed _ …it would be in everyone’s best interests if he were to revert to a demonic school.” 

Next thing he knew, he and his family were walking outside. He felt numb. 

“I can’t leave now,” he said, mostly to himself. “Kagome and I are partners. We need to be together.” 

“ _ Inuyasha _ !” 

The sound of her voice had every cell in his body alert and he whipped around, wanting to charge over to her and take her and run away forever. His father’s hand came down on his shoulder and that helped him keep his wits. 

“Kagome.” Now that he was seeing her, it was twice as hard not to cry. “I… I’m sorry.” 

“Are you suspended?” she asked. Gods, her eyes were so big and innocent and he hated that she was seeing him like this but he never wanted her to look away. 

“Not exactly…” 

“Inuyasha will be transferring schools.” Toga’s voice was as firm as his grip. 

“No! You can’t!” Kagome possessed none of his forced reserve and ran to him, throwing her arms around him. “It wasn’t your fault, it was my fault. I’ll tell the principal and everything will go back to how it used to be.” 

Without him even noticing, his arms were around her, squeezing tighter and tighter. Inuyasha buried his nose in her hair and ground his pelvis into her, his cock hard and ready to venture beneath her tiny skirt and show her why he was the better male to choose. 

“Inuyasha, you’re hurting me—” 

Toga pulled him away just in time. Inuyasha tried to fight him for a bit, reaching with newly extended clawed fingers for the girl he had wanted for years. With one hard shake, Toga knocked some sense into him, and then he was being tugged away to their car. 

“I’m sorry, Kagome! I didn’t mean to!” he called to her. “Don’t… Have fun on your date with Hojo, okay?” 

Tears were running down her face and she looked far more broken up than she had when he’d said those things at lunch. 

“I’m not going!” she screamed, stomping her foot. “How dare you leave me like this, Inuyasha! It isn’t over. Not ever!” 

The tinted windows gave him leave to finally relax the hold on his emotions and let escape the few tears he could bear to release without turning them into a flood. The driver rolled the divider up considerately. 

“That’s Kagome?” Izayoi said with a smile. “She’s as fiery as you are. An interesting choice.” 

“Not a choice. Not anymore,” Toga said in a definitive tone. “That is the girl who made you cause a scene, correct? No wonder.” 

“What’s going on?” he croaked, throat tight. “How did I break that table? Why can’t I stay here?” 

“Inuyasha,” his mother said in her ever-soothing tone, though this time his name was tinged with pity, “your body is changing.” 

He snorted. “Sounds like you’re about to give me the talk.” 

“It is a sort of puberty,” Toga said. “But when it didn’t hit you in middle school, we figured it never would. Then you turned eighteen and we thought for sure we were out of the woods.” 

“What is it!? I have feelings, these intense  _ wrong _ feelings, and I can’t control them.” 

“That’s definitely it. You’re undergoing the change.” He sighed. “Up until this point, you’ve been basically human with a tiny spark of demon in you, but now the demon part will overpower the human part. You will grow stronger, taller, faster, smarter. And it’ll show. No human school would take you now, no matter how much money we throw at them.” 

“It’s not all bad, dear,” Izayoi said, seeing the look on her son’s face. “There’s a school not far from here. You’ll be there during the week and come back home on weekends. I know it’s your last year in school, but I think they’ll be able to train you to face the world.” 

As the driver helped her out of the car, Toga restrained Inuyasha from leaving. 

“What she didn’t tell you, son, is that this is a time for exploration. For learning. The kind you can’t do with Kagome.” 

He was numb. “I don’t want to go to a new school. I’ll stay home, I don’t care.” 

“I’d think a boy your age would jump at the chance to enroll in a school where they hand out birth control more often than homework. Just give it a try. Make some friends. You’ll forget all about that girl in a week.” 

Inuyasha lashed out and hit the window, not surprised this time when he saw it shatter. “I want Kagome!” 

His father loomed before him, temper rising in the confined space like a third party. “You  _ want _ that girl?” His sigh was more an expression of disgust than anything else, even exasperation. “She’s a tiny thing, Inuyasha. A fragile girl among fragile girls. I’ve been listening to you rattle on about her these past few years. Born premature, always sick, father dead and gone. A night with you would destroy her. Try it. See what happens.” 

He wanted to protest, wanted to tell him about the strength that no one but Kagome had and how it called to him as much as her scent and smile, but the picture Toga had painted was too vivid for him to talk away. Inuyasha looked down at the splinters of glass and wood still in his hands. Blood dripped to his wrists though he had already healed around where the foreign objects impaled his flesh. 

If it were her blood on his hands? He would never survive it. 

“I love her.” One last, feeble attempt. 

“Son, it took me decades before I was able to control myself enough to be with a human woman. Imagine if I met your mother before I was ready?” He patted him on the shoulder and left the car. “It’s not meant to be.” 

**O\o/O**

Inuyasha stood at the gated entrance of Shikon Academy. Veins of ivy crawled up the brick building and it seemed like there was a giant gray cloud over just the school itself and none of the surrounding areas. 

This was to be his home for the next year. 

They hadn’t even let him see Kagome before they had packed him off here. His mother was at least apologetic, but his father didn’t care at all. No, Kagome was a “trigger”. They talked like one last goodbye would mean the end of the world. 

As if he would ever hurt Kagome. He’d kill himself first. 

“So you’re the transfer.” 

Inuyasha started at the sound of the girl’s voice and whirled around, fighting the urge to rip her tongue out of her mouth for trying to get the jump on him. He took a deep breath. He couldn’t lose it. Not when Kagome herself was at stake. 

“Fuck off.” 

“Geez,” the red-haired wolf demoness said with a roll of her eyes. “Sorry for being curious. You’re the rarest of the rares, though, and I had to be the first.” 

“What the fuck are you—” 

Before he could finish his sentence or even blink, the girl had him pushed up against the wall, pants down around his ankles. Panicking, Inuyasha glanced at the gate to see his parents had just driven off. It briefly flashed through his mind that what was happening right now was why his old man had not wanted his mother to walk him to his dorm. 

“Mmm, human good looks and a demon’s cock. Best of both worlds.” 

Her green eyes were bright as she coaxed him to a full erection with a single stroke. When she brought him to her mouth, the back of his head hit the wall and he saw stars. Nothing had ever felt so good. It didn’t even matter that he could feel her fangs or smell how her scent was too earthy or that her mouth was too big. 

His eyes, half-lidded and crossed, slid shut. She was Kagome now. 

Inuyasha moaned and grabbed hold of her pigtails. A part of him, the part that was the most human, hated himself for giving in so easily. To that part, it didn’t matter that strange hormones were ravaging his body and making him yearn to fuck and fight in the same breath every five minutes. All that mattered was his body was betraying his heart and this brief act was going to come with a lifetime of guilt. 

He thrust his hips forward, stuffing himself down the wolf demoness’ throat. She choked, the slim tunnel constricting around him, and tried to push him off. But he was too strong now. Lust and rage combined and then he was fucking her face, taking note of her screams only in that they added to his pleasure. The girl knew not to bite, knew not to make him angry, and that was what saved her. Her fingers caressed his balls and then it was over, his virgin load deep in her stomach. 

“Wow,” the demoness gasped, voice hoarse. Unsteadily, she got to her feet, ignoring his outstretched hand. “That was intense. Who’s Kagome?” 

Inuyasha growled and raised his hand, lowering it with a start when she cringed back. What had he almost done? 

“Sorry,” he said lamely, conscience back in place. 

“Don’t be!” Her tongue darted out and licked a stray trail of cum from her chin. “I’m Ayame. Room 204. Remember how good I was to you when there’s a line of girls outside your room and let me cut.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “See you around, Inuyasha.” 

Everything else was so weird that he didn’t even question how she knew his name. Inuyasha crouched down, pulled up his pants, and wandered into the front office in a daze. 

“I see you’ve finally come, Mr. Taisho.” The secretary said this in a tone without inflection, yet he absolutely knew she had intended the double entendre. 

“How does everyone here know my name?” he huffed, more pissed off than anything else. 

“We don’t get transfers.” Her thickly outlined red eyes scanned him up and down. Judging by how her red-painted lips quirked upwards, she liked what she saw. “So you can imagine how curious we all are.” 

He didn’t know what to say to that. 

“Well, your parents seem to have returned all the necessary documents, so I won’t waste any time in showing you to your room.” 

“Thanks…” 

“Kagura,” she said, giving him another quirking of the lips that hinted at all sorts of deviant things. 

The tour she gave him was brief and he tuned most of it out, trying so hard not to think of Kagome that all he was thinking about was not thinking about her and consequently her crying face as he had last seen her was burned into his mind. He got the basics of what Kagura was telling him. Four floors, girls on the first two and boys on the next two. Classes were on the eastern side of each floor, the floors organized by subjects. First, math. Second, science. Third, literature and language. Fourth, history and social studies. His class schedule was in a binder on his desk in his room. 

When they arrived at the door to his room, he almost turned around and walked out. It was one of the big corner rooms with plenty of natural light and walls Kagura assured him were sound-proof. The bed was big enough to host an orgy and there was a bowl of condoms on the nightstand like decoration. 

“Thanks,” he said again, setting his backpack and pathetically light duffel on the floor. When the secretary didn’t leave, he continued, “Uh, I’ve had a long day and I should probably shower…” 

Kagura walked over to the bed and ran her fingers over the bedpost as if checking for dust. Unable to help himself, his eyes fixated on how her ass moved from side to side in her skin-tight pencil skirt. 

“Sometimes, I like to take it upon myself and go the extra mile to make sure our students are comfortable.” She sat down on the bed and crossed her legs, revealing amounts of thigh he had never seen on an older woman. “Do you like the room?” 

“Uh, yeah.” 

“And you think you’ll put it to good use while you’re here?” 

He stammered a bunch of nothings. 

“I think you will. I think you’ll be our busiest student.” She took a fan out and he briefly wondered where she had been hiding it. “Are you hot? I think you’re hot.” 

Inuyasha was going to tell her he was just fine when she waved the fan in one big swoop at him. Just like that, his clothes were in tatters on the ground. He looked down in disbelief, almost blushing when he saw that he was fully hard again. 

“How did you—” 

“You’ll be able to do all that and more by next month. Now get over here and fuck me before I take care of it myself.” Her clothes simply undid themselves and floated to the ground, intact and folded. 

It was like he had no control over himself. Inuyasha was tired, he was angry, he was dirty, he was hungry, and he wanted to cry and talk to Kagome. But all that took second place to the current overwhelming need, the desire that had rewritten his destiny. 

Without sparing a single thought for her, he parted her legs and thrust himself inside her pussy. Kagura didn’t seem to mind. When he thrust hard, withdrew, and turned her over, she seemed to warm up a little more. 

“Fuck yes, I like it rough. That’s right, Inuyasha, once you fuck me, everything from out there won’t matter at all.” 

He growled and grabbed a handful of her hair, shoving her face into the pillows so he wouldn’t have to hear her stupid voice. The harder he went, the harder her ample hips slammed back against him. Her back was a perfect arch and he slapped her ass, his palm hitting so hard that his claws caught the skin and broke it, leaving little lines of red in a pink handprint. With every stab inside her, she moaned louder, and he wished he had just one more pillow. 

When it was over, he lay face down on the bed, wondering if there were maids or if he’d have to get the stink out himself. 

“It’s Kagura, by the way, not Kagome,” she said, obviously offended. 

When he didn’t reply, she left, closing the door behind her. 

Inuyasha turned over and stared at the ceiling. 

Just a week ago, he had been too scared to ask out the girl of his dreams who was always looking for excuses to be around him and had been for years. Now, at his first day in a new school, he had gotten the first blowjob of his life and lost his virginity, all in the span of twenty fucking minutes. 

Dreaming was torture. 

In his dreams, Kagome knew exactly where he was and what he was doing. She never said anything, just cried like she had the last time he had seen her. 

When he woke up, the pillow was wet with his own tears. 

**O\o/O**

The days passed by at a snail’s pace at first, but as time went on and still Kagome didn’t call or text or write or respond to any of his increasingly pleading messages, he began to settle into a comfortable routine. 

Half the week was leg day and the other half was arm day. Redheads on leg days, blondes on arm days. Brunettes only when it got so bad that his heart felt like it was collapsing in on itself and turning into something new and monstrous. 

His classes were okay. Inuyasha had forgotten how he had excelled at demon studies at his old schools, his only escape from the bullying. Back then, everyone else had been bigger and stronger and faster than him. Now? The kids who used to kick his ass flinched when he even thought about looking their way. In just a few months, he had grown nearly a foot and made such strides in strength that he had gone well past breaking human records and had now even begun to break demon records. 

The one part that had remained obviously unchanged, had anyone cared to notice, was how closely he paid attention to his human sexuality class. When he got out of here, he was going to find Kagome, and he needed to know how to be good to her. In the meantime, he paid attention and reconciled what his heart told him were affairs by saying he was just practicing to please Kagome. But the second a girl got her clothes off, his rational mind went out the window and he allowed his body to take control, getting more aggressive every time. 

He told himself that it would be different with Kagome. It had to be. She was so delicate, so beautifully fragile. Inuyasha wouldn’t treat her like the others, wouldn’t hurt her. He wouldn’t even want to. 

All that was easy to say when she wasn’t around. 

Kagome had never believed in her own mortality, even though hers was more apparent than in others her age. So when one day Inuyasha walked down the halls and the breeze blew her scent to him, he wasn’t even surprised. He was aggrieved, but not surprised. 

Excitement made his heart beat faster and he ran to the window, fully intending to jump out and go to her. But the sight of her made him stop in his tracks. 

It wasn’t her that was the problem. No, Kagome was perfect, just as she’d always been. It was just beginning to rain outside and she stood there, shivering and wet, not caring about the trip to the doctor she’d undoubtedly have to make after this. The uniform blouse she wore, which was slightly transparent when dry (as long as he squinted and she stood in direct sunlight), was now completely sheer. He could see the pink lace of her bra and the pinker bits it contained. 

Inuyasha’s reaction to the sight of her was what made him stop. 

Claws embedded into the window frame, one foot up on the sill, he watched her from the third floor. His cock was hard and pulsing and he had been on the fringe of jumping down and taking her right there in the muddy grass in front of the faculty and entire student body. 

“Inuyasha!” Kagome called happily, spotting him right away. “Come down and let me in. It’s freezing out here and the secretary told me to go away.” 

Just for that, he wanted to tear Kagura apart. Kagome’s words were like a siren’s song to him and he nearly flung himself down, but the snickers behind him brought him back to earth. No, he wasn’t the same guy she knew. The Inuyasha he was now wouldn’t care that she was cold and sick and had come all this way for him. The half-demon he had become would feel her chilly skin and delight in her trembling, forcing himself on her. 

“Go away, Kagome.” It was the hardest thing he’d ever said. 

The look on her face showed her complete shock. She laughed, thinking it was some kind of joke. “That’s not funny. I came all this way to find out why you ghosted everyone. We were so worried, Inuyasha! Come down and let me in so we can talk.” 

A drop of rain landed in the center of her lower lip and his eyes fixated on it. When she licked it away, his cock jumped in his pants and he knew everything his father said had been right. For the first time, he prayed to the gods to keep the rain going. It washed her scent away and kept him that much saner. 

“Go back to Hojo,” he sneered, coming down from the window but leaving his claws in the wall just in case. “Leave me alone, Kagome. I came here to get away from you. What do I have to do, get a restraining order?” 

They had an audience now and they laughed. The hurt look on Kagome’s face was like a punch to the gut and he nearly fell to his knees when he realized it wasn’t all rain coursing down her cheeks. 

“Fine! If that’s how you want it, you idiot, I’ll go. But I’ll hate you forever for leading me on and then leaving me, Inuyasha, I swear!” 

There was nothing he could say to that. The other students around him were saying things, but all he could hear was a ringing in his ears. With one big jerk, he pulled himself away from the window and ran. All he knew was he had to get as far away from Kagome as possible. For the first time, he intended on being in his bed alone. Maybe there he could pretend this was all just some horrible nightmare. 

“What did you do to that girl, man?” one of the guys he recognized from class asked. He was a wolf demon from the same tribe as Ayame and cared more about class than fucking, which was rare. His name was  Kōnga or Kōga or something.

“Nothing.” It was true and that was the problem. 

He snorted. “If I had a girl like her, I wouldn’t bother with any of the sluts here.” His blue eyes turned sly. “You wouldn’t mind if I ‘bothered’ with her, would you?” 

Inuyasha had the bastard pinned up against the wall before he even realized what his hands were doing. 

“Leave—her—alone,” he bit out, hitting the wolf against the wall once for good measure. The brick crumbled but didn’t break, and he was impressed at how much control he’d had that time. 

Kōga pushed him back. The wolf was stronger than he looked. “You don’t tell me what to do, dog shit.”

“Inuyashaaa!” One of the girls in his calc class came running up to him, an extra button on her blouse undone. “You were sooo mean to that little human girl. It was hot!”

Another girl came up and grabbed his arm, hugging it so it was sandwiched between her large breasts. “I understand her. I’d lose my mind too if Inuyasha didn’t want to see me anymore.”

The two girls bickered back and forth and he tuned them out, shoving them away and darting upstairs. His body moved of its own accord, seeking shelter from the thing he had become and those who applauded him for it. Even though he wanted release, either in the form of fucking or fighting, so badly it hurt, he denied himself anything. He didn’t deserve it, didn’t even deserve to breathe, for hurting Kagome. 

In order to avoid hurting her, he had to hurt her, and it made him feel so fucking horrible that he wished she had never met an asshole like him.

Flopping down on the enormous bed he wished was the full-sized one he had at home, he fished his phone out of his pocket. No notifications. Why had Kagome acted like he was the one who had ghosted? She was the one who hadn’t even read a single one of the embarrassingly many messages he had sent her. Fuck, he’d even written her letters! And nothing in return from her, not for months. 

Slamming his face down on the pillow, he tried as hard as he could to forget about what he had just done. After a while, he fell into a light doze where all he remembered was that he had seen and smelled Kagome again and nothing else. 

Inuyasha didn’t know how much time had passed while he was out, but when he next opened his eyes it was dark outside. His public interaction with Kagome hit him like a ton of bricks and he groaned aloud. This wasn’t right. He couldn’t go on like this. 

The gym was his only option for relief. Since he wasn’t allowing himself to seek out another in pleasure or anger, he chose to punish himself by exhausting his body. Changing into basketball shorts and forgoing a shirt, he made his way down the hall. It was a Friday night so most of the other students had already left to go home or party in the city. But for himself and the security guard lurking on the ground floor, the place was deserted.

Or at least that’s what he thought until he passed the showers on the way to lift weights until he collapsed.

“You’re such a pretty thing.” The growled words were low and he would have missed them entirely due to the pounding of the shower that was on, but in the aggressive mood he was in every sense was heightened. 

Curious now, he entered the locker room as quietly as he could, certain he was about to find the quarterback and a linebacker together in a secret rendezvous. The steam helped keep his cover and he inched toward the sounds, already half-erect in his shorts.

“I love human girls,” the now-familiar voice said in what was almost a moan. 

Now that he was closer, he could hear the other person’s response, which was nothing more than a muffled sob. 

Kōga had Kagome pinned against his locker. He was a lot taller than she was, hell,  _ everyone  _ was, and she clung to his shoulders in fear, her trembling legs locked around his waist. At least Inuyasha told himself it was fear. Then he saw her own panties stuffed in her mouth and realized just what the fingers on Kōga’s left hand were doing between her legs.

“Get the fuck off of her!” Inuyasha roared.

“Dog shit,” the wolf demon said, looking only peeved compared to the half-demon's rage. “I was wondering when you’d show your ugly face.”

Inuyasha didn’t care whether this encounter was consensual or not. When he saw Kagome’s flushed face and Kōga’s smug smirk, he sprang into action. A single kick to the temple did Kōga in and he went sprawling across the floor of the locker room. Inuyasha caught Kagome before she could hit the ground. She stared at him, her big eyes full of fear and something else.

“Spit that out, you look fucking ridiculous.”

A furrow in her brow, Kagome did as told, throwing her panties on the ground and glaring at him. Inuyasha wanted so badly to shake her, to curse at her, to take her over his knee and flip her skirt up and spank her...

It was happening again. He was losing control.

“Run!” he told her, not wanting to do to her what he had done to the table in their school cafeteria. The red was taking over his vision and his blood was pounding in his head and cock. “Get out!”

“You jerk!” Kagome yelled. She stood up on the bench and made the mistake of getting in his face. “I came here to talk to you!” He could smell her, smell her so well, smell the slightest trace of her own pussy on her lips.

“Then talk.” Inuyasha gave up. His feelings for Kagome had never been something he was able to fight, not when he was mostly human and even less now. 

Grabbing her around the waist, he brought her forward and kissed her.

Kagome tasted like cinnamon and sugar and her own excitement. Her legs wrapped around his waist and he felt her hot pussy against his bare skin. It was too much to take. Inuyasha dropped her, pinning her down on the bench and getting between her legs. It was time for him to taste directly from the source itself. 

His first lick of Kagome’s pussy encompassed the whole of her gushing slit, going from the bottom where her entrance was to the top, the tip of his tongue swirling around her clit. She gasped and half sat up, threading her fingers through his hair. 

“Gods, Inuyasha, what happened to you here?” 

He heard her words but they did not register. His eyes were half-closed and his mouth worked on her the way it had always wanted to. All his education of the last few months was only put to work subconsciously, if at all. Inuyasha was acting on pure desire. 

“You’re so tall now, and hells, it looks like you’ve been in the gym the entire time you were gone.” 

One of his hands made itself useful by plunging two fingers inside her tight cunt and the other smoothed over the slight swell of her hip, flat stomach, and up to her breasts. As he sucked on her clit and finger fucked her, his claws found the top of her bra cup and he tore through it and her blouse, leaving it in shreds around her. 

The noise Kagome made was a cross between a fearful gasp and a moan for more. 

“Inuyasha — Oh! Fuck it, keep going!” 

She was so wet that her juices dripped onto the bench beneath them and mingled with the beads of water from the steamy showers. He changed the rhythm of his fingers, increasing his pace and adding a third. Bending them just the slightest bit at the last joint while he ran his tongue over her clit furiously, he nearly came himself when she cried out his name and tightened her thighs around his head, coming so hard she nearly took them both to the ground. Inuyasha kept licking, giving her another orgasm, another, and another, hardly even aware of what he was doing. 

Kagome tugged on his ears hard and he allowed himself to be forced away from his treat, licking his shining lips, ever her dog. 

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were bright, like she had a fever or something. Scooting back, she kicked him to the floor, and he was so surprised he barely caught his fall. Kagome jumped on him in an instant, small hands dragging his shorts down and freeing his erection, stroking his already weeping cock. As crazy for her as he was, even he wasn’t prepared for her to bypass any sort of hand or mouth play and go straight for kneeling above his cock and impaling herself on it. 

They moaned in unison and he tore her skirt off, needing to physically see her pussy swallowing his length. There was a thin trickle of blood, but other than that it was all sticky desire. Kagome’s hands were on his shoulders and she rode him like someone who had paid for the pleasure, her small breasts bouncing. Inuyasha's gaze fixed on that part of her he had yet to taste even as he palmed and squeezed her ass, bringing her up and slamming her down on his pole. She was squeezing him so tight that he was about to lose it when she went over the edge again, wrapping her arms around his neck and shuddering hard. 

He slammed her down on the ground before the pulsing of her walls had even finished, still inside her. Her cry of pained alarm didn’t even faze him. What he desired was in sight and that was all that mattered. 

The new difference in their heights made it extra difficult, but he bowed at the waist and took one plump pink nipple into his mouth, a rumble of enjoyment in his chest. Kagome arched her back and urged him on with words in a language he didn’t speak at present but still vaguely comprehended. Widening his mouth the slightest bit, he took the entirety of her breast inside, sucking and swirling his tongue in violent patterns across her skin. When that pearl became diamond hard he switched to the other one, giving it the same treatment until her legs began to shake. 

It only took one thrust to make her come this time. 

Kagome was covered in sweat and her own tattered clothing but all he saw was everything he had ever wanted. Withdrawing from the home he had made inside her hot entrance, he forced her on her face and onto her knees without the slightest bit of gentleness. She could barely hold herself up, slender muscles in her limbs quivering and giving out. Inuyasha guided himself back inside her, ears flicking at her long, low moan and subsequent yelp when he slapped her ass. 

He went fast this time without anything but holes to distract him. Tiny though she was, Kagome’s ass was luscious and shook with every pounding thrust. The force of his movements moved them slightly across the floor and the smell of her blood from scraped knees and elbows filled his senses, intoxicating him further. Kagome herself barely seemed to notice. She was arching her back for more dick while rubbing her pussy at the same time, as lost to the world as he. 

Inuyasha wasn’t sure what it was about that last dull realization that made him do it, but he thrust his hand into her tangled mane of hair, snapped her head back, and bit her way harder than he should have for someone who wasn’t even really friends with her anymore let alone dating her. Kagome called out his name and clamped down on him, the hardest embrace yet, and this time he followed her, emptying out jets of jealous seed inside her. 

The two of them collapsed side by side on the concrete floor damp with their fluids and the moisture from the shower. 

The half-demon looked over at her, the same shy boy he had been the last time he had seen her now that his hormones had temporarily receded. 

“Fuck,” he said. 

Inuyasha had been right. It was different with Kagome. With Kagome, he had gone too far. 

The girl he loved was covered in bruises. Her lips were swollen. Thin scratches that he recognized as having been made by his claws covered her from chest to mid-thigh. Her elbows and knees were a bloody mess and her throat was completely covered in still-flowing red. Fang punctures littered her beautiful breasts. Blood and semen trickled out of her bruised pussy. 

Kagome’s eyes fluttered open and she smiled. “Take me to your room so we can do that again.” 

Inuyasha scrambled to his feet, almost slipping. “W-what are you saying!? Kagome, I hurt you! You don’t feel it now, but once you get a look at yourself, you’ll —”

She snorted and shakily got to her feet, pushing away his helping hands. “I’m fine, you idiot. Better than fine. This was more or less what I came here for.”

His brows came together and the anger from the past few months resurged in him. “So you ignore all my attempts to communicate with you until you feel like getting off? What the fuck, Kagome?”

“ _ You  _ tried talking to me?” She laughed and it was bitter. “Inuyasha, you’re the one that’s been ignoring me this whole entire time!”

It hit them at the same time. 

“My parents.” Inuyasha punched the closest locker, denting it in half. “Fuck, Kagome, if I had known...”

She took his face between her hands and brought him down for a kiss. 

“Maybe it was better this way. At least now you’re not scared to ask me out.” She tweaked his ear a little too hard to be friendly. “You are asking me out after this, aren’t you, Inuyasha?”

He laughed nervously. After what he had just done, and what he belatedly realized his father had been trying to prevent, they were a little more than girlfriend and boyfriend now. Oh well. He'd tell her eventually. On what date was it considered appropriate to tell a girl that you were bonded for life?

She tugged on his hand. “Show me your room. I can stay the whole weekend.”

Inuyasha swept her into his arms. “I’ll come up and visit you next weekend, okay? We’ll trade off.” 

Kagome kissed him again. “I love you, Inuyasha. Forever.”

Everything inside him softened and he knew he hadn’t made a mistake. “I’ve always loved—”

A moan from across the room made the both of them jump and their expressions changed from bliss to guilt.

“ Kōga,” they said in unison. 

To Inuyasha’s surprise, the wolf demon emerged from the steam not groggy but with his pants down around his ankles and his cock in his hand. 

“Just another minute,” the wolf panted. “Then I’ll finish and you can go upstairs and I'll take my turn with her.” 

When he punched Kōga this time, he made sure the idiot would be out for the rest of the night. 


	5. Worth Waiting For

**A newly-crowned emperor takes some time off to enjoy his victories only to uncover a secret that changes his life and the lives of the two women he loves.**

**Five: Worth Waiting For**

His men cheered as Inuyasha held the clan leader’s head high above the flaming rubble that once was his palace. 

“Men of the empire, witness what becomes of the vermin that dare challenge my rule!”

The noise was deafening and would have been even if he had human ears instead of the ones that had caused an untold number of slurs to be hurled at him. Inuyasha didn’t even feel the pain. This was it. He had done something big enough to secure his place. Now all the other clans would stop their plotting in the shadows and submit to him. 

From the half-breed son of a concubine to emperor, Inuyasha had come a long way in the past few months.

“You did it! You magnificent bastard, you actually did it!”

Miroku clapped him on the back and he tried not to wince.

“Keh, you know I couldn’t have done it without you. All of you. This is the beginning of a thousand-year-long reign, my friend, and you will be at my right hand every step of the way.”

His advisor laughed and put an arm around him. “And where shall we go to celebrate your victory, your majesty? There’s a tavern in town that the men are probably draining as we speak.”

Inuyasha cringed when he thought of how much more noise that would be. “Fuck that. I just want to go home. I’m exhausted.”

Miroku’s eyes turned sly. “Ah, if it is a rejuvenating rest you wish, I know just the place.”

“I don’t wanna go anywhere, Miroku.” He stuffed the clan leader’s head in the satchel at his side. “You can celebrate with the men if you want. As for me, it’s only two hours on horseback from the palace and I have someone worried and waiting for me.”

“Lady Kikyo can stay waiting for one more night. I’ll take you and your best warriors to the finest house of pleasure in your new lands.”

“Whores!?” he sputtered, face turning as red as his firerat armor. “Fucking gods, Miroku, I have a fiancee!”

“Fucking  _ goddesses _ ,” he corrected. “That’s what we’d be doing. Besides, the finest pleasure house in the realm is but a short walk away.”

“No!”

“Your maidenly attachment to your innocence has long ceased to be amusing and is now something I find entirely concerning. Do you really believe Lady Kikyo wants a fumbling boy on her wedding night?”

Inuyasha was in too good a mood to punch him. “Fine, we’ll go. But I’m not touching any of ‘em! I’ll just get some food and a bed for myself, that’s it.”

“As you say, sire.”

Miroku had spoken true of the whorehouse’s nearness. Inuyasha didn’t know why his most trusted advisor had been all the way out here in search of pleasure, but he supposed his lechery was more powerful than he’d thought. The place was a palace, though nowhere near as fine as the imperial one, but fine nonetheless. Inuyasha had thought a place like this full of diseased wretches would have looked a little slummier. Women who rivaled the finest court beauties in loveliness were everywhere, most of them scantily clad with a few of them completely nude. 

The twenty or so soldiers Miroku had decided were most deserving of such a reward wasted no time finding a woman or two (or three! Inuyasha marveled at their energy) to entertain them. Inuyasha sat at one of the many tables and tried to observe as discreetly as possible. 

His wedding was in a mere two weeks. It wasn’t like he didn’t know what to do, he just wasn’t sure if he was going to be doing it right. It made sense for him to watch and see what was appropriate.

“A handsome soldier fresh from battle,” purred a woman directly into his sensitive ear. “How lucky I am.”

Inuyasha tried not to shove her away. Gods, but the stench was more off-putting than he had thought it would be. How many men had she had today already and still she was looking for another? He wanted to just give her the coin she required since she obviously needed it badly if she was willing to put herself through a daily ten and more partners he smelled on her.

“Sake,” was all he said, pressing the money into her hand. “And silence.”

Her prettily painted face turned cold at the slight and she left his presence, but she came back with a bottle of sake and only a single cup, so he could not fault her service. 

“Here are your spirits, half-breed. Don’t seek me out again unless you’re willing to pay double my usual price.”

He snorted. Not likely. “You should be careful with your words. They say the new emperor is a  hanyō. That kind of talk might not be tolerated in the future.”

The whore laughed. “The day a mongrel like you sits on the throne is the day I finally lay down and die.”

One whore’s opinion wasn’t enough to completely ruin the glorious feeling of victory his triumph in battle had brought him, but it did dim it. It wasn’t like Inuyasha wasn’t used to hearing such things. His parents’ relationship had been tolerated but only because his mother was never seen in public with his father. All that was the past, however. His rule was the future, and he was going to see to it that everyone was free to love who they wanted and not hide.

“You’re going at that sake pretty heavily, my lord,” Miroku said. 

“Whaa? Don’ I deserb it?” he slurred. Fuck, when did the bottle get so light?

“This place is unusually crowded tonight,” he said, eyeing the room that was now packed with men of all ages and classes, their soldiers in the minority. “Wonder what’s going on…”

“No more fightin’ and now that the men are dead there’s more women to go ‘round.”

He chucked. “My, you’re morbid when you’re drunk.”

“Gentlemen! The event you’ve been waiting eighteen years for has finally arrived!” The man, who Inuyasha guessed was the whoremaster himself, looked like any other middle-aged peasant, just in richer clothing. He stood grinning as he addressed the room, eyes bright with avarice.

“Show us the girl!”

“Bring her out!”

The shouts continued in that vein until the pimp was able to quiet them down. 

“Patience, gentlemen. She’s just making herself beautiful for you. A girl’s first time is something she’ll remember forever.” 

“I’ve got something she’s gonna remember forever right here!”

The pimp smiled at them, one eye twitching, and took off down the hallway. Inuyasha’s sensitive hearing enabled him to hear shouting, a woman screaming, something breaking, and then the man was back, a naked girl behind him.

“You’ve all been waiting much too long for our little Kagome to grow up. Now here she is, the daughter of my best whore; no doubt most of you took a tumble with her mother. Kagome is ripe for whoring herself, so I say let’s start the bidding at ten silver.”

The girl was pale, the pallor of her skin showcasing her nervousness. Obvious dread aside, she was beautiful. Her skin had no need of the heavy paints and rouges the other women wore and her hair waved freely down her back without any intricate combs and braids. It served as a sort of covering, yet still she was far from modest. Though the rose of her lips was muted from her shock, he knew that a few kisses would bring back their color. Striking honey-brown eyes flitted here and there, landing nowhere and looking everywhere, never once focusing. His heart skipped a beat when she finally stopped and looked straight at him.

“Congratulations, Inuyasha!” Miroku said over the sounds of groans and complaints. “You can thank me later.” 

“Not fair! How did a half-breed get that much coin? I’ve been wantin’ her since her first blood!”

“Relax, you can always have her when he’s done.”

“What good’ll she be after he’s done with her?”

Inuyasha looked at Miroku, who was quickly growing less blurry around the corners. “Wait… What’s happening?”

He grinned, oblivious to the atmosphere that surrounded them. “You didn’t like any of the more practiced whores, so I figured a virgin would be a little less nerve-wracking. And what a beauty she is, huh?”

“I told you,” he growled, “I don’t want any of ‘em.”

Miroku shrugged, already eyeing the girl who continued to cower behind the whoremaster, afraid of the near-rioting crowd of men that had all wanted to buy her virginity.

“Fair enough. I wouldn’t mind spending the night in her bed. I suppose it would be more considerate for her to have a learned lover for her first time, someone who could show her what to expect, teach her how to satisfy her own desire whilst satisfying mine—”

“A bed does sound awfully nice right about now. And since you’re paying for my food and sake, I should get to enjoy them in a quiet room. I think I will thoroughly appreciate that aspect of your gift, Miroku.”

A girl as reluctant and scared as she appeared to be did not deserve to be ravaged by the likes of Miroku. If he could give her one more night as her own woman, he would. Plus he really did have too much to drink and the glory of the battle was finally wearing off and a bed would be so nice.

“Show the half-breed to your room, Kagome. I know his looks are fearsome, but treat him like a normal man.”

The pimp’s whisper wasn’t nearly as quiet as he thought it was. He grabbed the virgin whore and pushed past the arguing men to bring her directly to Inuyasha.

“You got lucky tonight, sir soldier. She’s the daughter of my best whore and comes from a long line of whores. Pleasure was bred into her. A virgin she may be, but she knows all the tricks the other girls do, just you wait and see.”

“Uh, thanks. I would like us to retire now, if you would show me the way, Miss Kagome.”

She met his eyes with her own when he said her name and it was the same as before. Fuck, but he shouldn’t have had that last cup. He could barely breathe right.

While the pimp held back the men, Kagome led Inuyasha down the torch-lined hallway to her room. There were murals on the walls of couples in erotic poses. Men with men, women with women, and everywhere men and women. He began to feel dizzy. 

Her room was small but furnished better than he had hoped. The bed was large and he felt sick when he realized it was made to hold up to five people. Fresh flowers were in a vase on a table and candles were already burning with the intent to create a romantic atmosphere. 

“Here,” she said, and he realized it was the first time he had heard her voice. “Lay down, my lord, and I will take care of you.”

Inuyasha began to panic, thinking that somehow she knew who he was, but then he realized it was probably how all the women addressed the men who had paid for their services.

“You don’t need to do anything!” he said quickly. “I just wanted a place to sleep and you looked scared of those men, so I figured you wouldn’t object to having a roommate for the night.” 

Fuck, but he was blabbering. The longer she stared at him, the more nervous he got. Women had never been his specialty. He wasn’t like Miroku. He was a one-woman man, only he hadn’t yet gotten the opportunity to make a woman out of her yet. Or say more than a couple sentences to her, all formal traditional recitations during the marriage preparations. This was new territory. He could win a thousand battles but still trip all over his words when a pretty woman looked at him. Honestly, with her being so beautiful and so very naked, he was surprised he had made it this far. Maybe the sake had helped.

“Wait here.” Gently, she pushed him on the bed.

Inuyasha took a deep breath. Never before tonight had he had to reject a woman. This was going to be hard.

“Here.” She set something down on her nightstand but he was too preoccupied with how close she was to him to see what it was. Quickly, she undid the ties of his shirt.

“W-what are you doing?” he yelped as she tried to get the rest of his clothes off.

She raised a brow. “I’m undressing you.” Now that he was shirtless, she grabbed a cloth and bowl from her nightstand and dragged it across his chest.

“Is this foreplay? That’s not what I'm here for, I meant what I said—”

Kagome laughed and it sounded like tinkling bells in a summer rain. “You’re hurt, soldier. I’m cleaning your wounds.”

The cloth was bloody when she pulled it away and she frowned at it, dunking it back in the bowl of warm water before applying it again. Inuyasha felt himself flush. Fuck, but he was an idiot.

“Sorry. Thanks, but you don’t have to. I’m not a human. It’ll all be healed by the time the sun comes up.”

“That doesn’t mean it won’t bother you in the meantime.” She grabbed a roll of bandages and began to wrap a long cut on his bicep. “What’s your name?”

“Inuyasha.” Immediately, he cringed. News of his coronation still hadn’t made its way to every corner of the empire, especially not among the common classes. There were many disputes with clans and nobles that he’d had to settle and word was just beginning to trickle down. What were the odds that she’d know who he was? 

“Are you a sword for hire or do you belong to a clan?”

He breathed a little easier. “Neither,” he answered truthfully. “I fight for what’s right and there’s nothing else to it.”

Something in her face relaxed a little and she smiled at him. “All done. Thank you for taking down the clan head. He taxed the people twice as much as required by law and the emperor never did anything about it. That’s why there are so many women here. Their families sold them.”

Guilt for something he hadn’t done filled him. “That will change. Everything will change. These lands now belong to the emperor and they will be given to those who fought bravely here.”

“I take it that means I’ll be seeing more of you.” Her hand was on his thigh and already her fingers were undoing the ties of his hakama.

Inuyasha choked. “N-not really. We’re just here for tonight.”

“I’d like it very much if this were not both the first and last time we met.” 

Her lips hovered over his collar bone and it took everything in him to gently push her away.

“I-I’m sorry, b-but that is not what I c-came here for. Just a place to rest.”

Kagome’s eyes flashed with temper and her lips pouted into a rosebud. “You bought my first time. When I saw it wasn’t going to be with the pig farmer or the undertaker or the butcher, I was so glad I nearly cried. Not only that, but you are young and strong and handsome. It seemed like the hand of some god.” She leaned forward and he was completely spellbound, his eyes wide and unable to look away. “I want you, Inuyasha. I’d want you even if you hadn’t paid for it. I want you so much that if it were up to me this night would be a gift to you, given freely.”

When she moved her hand up his thigh, he let her. That first touch of her hand on his cock made him release a shuddering breath and he felt all the muscles in his body become alert in a similar way to that moment just before a fight. But this was so much more than that. In the flickering candlelight of the room, Kagome was an ethereal beauty. Her skin glowed golden from within and the smell of her arousal was driving him into madness. 

“Is something wrong?” she asked, her hand pausing its work.

“No!” He turned red at how sharp the word had been, full of obvious urgency at wanting her to continue. “I am… You overwhelm me.”

She smiled and kissed his jaw. “You can touch me, if you’d like.”

“Is that what you want?”

“Very much.”

With hesitant hands, he caressed both her breasts, weighing the perfect orbs and brushing his rough thumbs over the nipples. His hands were so calloused from training and battle and she was so soft that he wondered if it would hurt her delicate skin, but it seemed to have the opposite effect as she put her head back and moaned. Inuyasha’s erect cock bobbed between them and Kagome took it into her hands again, stroking him as he touched her.

“You’re so perfect,” he said in a strangled voice, marveling at the differences between him, a half-breed bastard, and her, a wholly human woman. “I’m just a hanyō still bloody and stinking from war. You should just take the payment and run. You don’t need to bother to try and please me. Any man out there would be happy to have you for a wife. I’ll even give you more coin, if you need, and you can keep your maidenhead and find someone—”

Kagome brought his hands to her mouth and kissed them. “You are a beautiful man. Inside and outside. I don’t know the world, but I know this place, and I know that I am never going to meet anyone like you ever again. If this place teaches you anything worth knowing, it’s to take whatever happiness you can get.”

When she ducked her head down, he thought she was concealing the tears he heard in her voice, but then she took him in her mouth and he couldn’t think of anything but how badly he needed to have her and see this through to the end. Her mouth sucked him expertly, cheeks concave. She pulled back until just the tip was left in her mouth, kissing his cock, her tongue swirling circles on the sensitive flesh. Kagome moaned at the taste of his precum, eyes that had grown dark with lust looking up at him. It was too much and he nearly lost control, whimpering like a pup in pain from the desire that stabbed at his gut. 

Inuyasha threaded his fingers through her hair and gently pulled until she stopped her worship of his member, looking at him questioningly. Heedless of the bandages she had so carefully wrapped him in, he switched their positions, flipping her on her back and giving a brief kiss to her throat before crawling between her legs.

“What are you…” Kagome interrupted herself with a shrieked moan at the first brush of his tongue against her pussy. “Oh, but my lord, men don’t do that with whores! Stop and let me please you.”

“I want this. I like this,” he muttered truthfully, going right back to licking her bedewed lips. 

Kagome shivered when he snuck a finger inside her tight passage. Slowly, her hands inched toward him until her fingers were tangled in his hair, tugging in a way Inuyasha was surprised to find added to his enjoyment of the act. When he added another finger, her back arched and she gasped. His face was covered with her enjoyment and he tongued her clit as rapidly as he could, ears perked straight up on his head to hear her increasing moans. Just when he felt her thighs begin to shake, he pulled away, looking up at her and taking in the sight of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen brought to tears by the pleasure he had only just begun to give her.

“Please,” she whispered, tears continuing to fall down her face.

The vision that she was struck him so much that he crawled up and kissed her. First her cheeks, trying to erase the tears. Then her brows that were drawn together in anxiety. Finally, her lips. She didn’t push him away or tell him to stop, as Miroku had told him women of her same profession would do with the men who paid for their company. Instead, she paused, something so brief that he doubted anyone who wasn’t him would have noticed, before she made a sound crossed between a moan and a sob and put her arms around his neck, kissing him back with the kind of passion he thought existed only in stories.

For a second, he was completely lost. The sounds and smells and feelings had him almost drugged and he forgot everything, even who he was now. Then she spread her legs and the sudden shock of her heat against him made him gasp. Forehead pressed against hers, he guided himself into her opening. Kagome made a small squeak, her body tensing before relaxing.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, marveling at his ability to remember language and his restraint.

“No, I just… They told me it was supposed to hurt. I was afraid.” She kissed him in such a way that he could not help how his hips jerked and slammed against her. “You didn’t hurt me. I don’t believe you ever could.” 

Together this time, they moved, the both of them gasping aloud at the feeling. Every time his eyes crossed and closed from how good it felt, he forced them open again. Inuyasha had to see her face. He needed to know she was feeling the same way. Kagome’s tears had lessened but still fell every now and then, though no sooner did they appear than he kissed her, trying to rip her away from whatever it was that was making her sad. 

She showed no fear of his claws, not even when they dug into her hips and drew small beads of blood in his urgency to take them both to climax. Instead, her rhythm stuttered and she arched her back, eyes half-lidded and lips parted in a hushed cry of his name. His hand ran up the golden-white column of her body and he cupped a breast, taking a rosy nipple between two knuckles and squeezing. Her mouth began to tremble and he sensed the reemergence of her tears.

Grabbing her by the chin, Inuyasha forced her to look back in his eyes.

“You will keep your eyes here when you finish,” he growled. “Don’t hide from me, Kagome. I won’t allow it.”

The look on her face was somewhere between shocked and something else he couldn’t recognize, but that dissolved into desire when he began to slam harder, going deeper and deeper on every stroke. Her muscles tightened until her back was arched like the crescent moon and then she was holding her legs behind the knees right up by her head. Her cheeks were flushed, her jaw was clenched, her pulse was racing, yet still her eyes remained open, even if just barely, striking in their honey-brown glow. He couldn’t take it anymore. Inuyasha met her lips with his own and she screamed into his mouth, her walls clamping down on him manically and milking him of every bit of virgin seed he had.

“Gods,” he said after a few minutes when he had finally returned to his body and rolled off of her. “That was… I didn’t know…”

Kagome snuggled into him and he realized that he had been cold from the second they were separated. “I’m glad to have pleased you better than your other women. I would like it very much if you were to visit me another night before you leave.”

“There hasn’t been another woman. Not ever.” 

She looked at him with sleepy surprise and blinked slow, her lashes fluttering against his chest. It occurred to Inuyasha that he didn’t want there to be any women after her, either.

“Thank you for buying my first time. I don’t know how I could go on if it had been anyone but you.”

Even though it was said with gratitude, it still made him feel bad. Here she was, a perfect woman, trapped in a life she did not choose. There he was, a rotten hanyō, who had made it so she had no other choice. No man would take her as a wife now. Not now that she had been deflowered by another.

Inuyasha woke her from her doze with, “May I stay the entire night?”

“It wouldn’t cost you extra, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t mind it, either.”

“Did you mean it when you said you wanted me to visit you again? My business here will take a little longer than I figured.”

Suddenly energized, she smiled and leaned up on one elbow, looking down on him with complete happiness in her remarkable eyes.

“You will visit me again? When? For how long?”

“In the morning, I am going to buy the next two nights.” His eyes avoided hers but he could tell she knew what he was trying to do.

“My lord… The master will not allow that. Two, yes. But never three in a row. I do not know if it is the same in the city, but here, that means, well, something permanent.”

He knew very well what it meant. A marriage to her would have to remain a secret, at least until everything was finalized and Kikyo was installed as empress. All he knew for certain was that after a night like tonight, a connection like this could not be ignored. No matter what, she wasn’t going to stay here, even if he had to take the head of the whoremaster himself.

**O\o/O**

“Inuyasha, will you please think about this!?” Miroku hissed at him.

Shrugging off his advisor’s hand, he continued his march downstairs.

“Are the men still sleeping off last night?”

“Yes!” He sighed in aggravation. “Will you just wait a minute? Gods above, you just told me you intend to bind yourself to a whore! I think that deserves a conversation.”

“You know me well enough to know that nothing you say will change my mind.”

“Be that as it may, I will feel eternally responsible if I don’t at least say my piece. Inuyasha, whatever you’re feeling right now, it isn’t fate or destiny or whatever kind of stories women throw around in their quarters. It’s because you were untried until now and you had what I’m guessing was a  _ very  _ talented partner for your first time.”

“That’s not it! It’s not about feelings, Miroku. It’s just… I don’t want to leave her in a place like this.”

“You are just beginning your reign! You have so much ahead of you, too much to jeopardize for some good ass. This woman probably knows who you are and is thinking to weasel her way into the court. For all you know—”

“Enough!” They were in front of the house’s offices behind the bar and Inuyasha was well past what he could tolerate. “I made up my mind, Miroku. As your ruler, I order you to shut up.”

“As your servant, your highness, I obey.” The advisor inclined his head slightly. “But as your friend, Inuyasha, I beg you to be wary. Remember the lady waiting for you. If the thought of her does not sway you, remember her clan and the power they hold.”

That stopped him in his tracks. Kikyo’s family were backing him, and he had to be very respectable and discreet about this affair to avoid upsetting them. All it took was one assassin and him leaving his guard down. 

“New plan,” Inuyasha said. “You’re going in. You’re going to buy her contract. I’ll pose as one of your men.”

“B-but—” Miroku sputtered, for once at a loss for words.

“She was your gift to me. Don’t be displeased that I like her.”

He sighed and straightened, knocking on the door. An old gleam was back in his eyes. It had been a while since he was able to work his swindling skills. 

“Whaddya want?” the brothel’s owner asked, blinking blearily even though it was past noon.

“Good day, my friend,” he said, sweeping into the room like he belonged there. Inuyasha eyed the bottles of alcohol, his nose twitching when he noticed not all of them were empty and had been filled up again with something that made him gag. 

“Sir. Did the girl do something wrong?” He completely ignored Inuyasha after glaring at him like he was some sort of attack dog. Maybe he was.

“Not at all, not at all. In fact, she was so pleasing that we wish to buy her contract.”

His brows raised right up into his greasy hairline. “Buy her contract? It was one night with a virgin! Damn, I suppose her blood proved true after all.”

“Indeed. I share your surprise as well.” Miroku gave Inuyasha a look and continued, “Would three-thousand silver help ease your loss?”

It was a generous offer for a new slave. None of Kagome’s training came through experience, so she wouldn’t fetch a very high price. Inuyasha had heard of expert bed slaves selling for as much as seven-thousand silver. The price Miroku had put on the table would normally be for one who had at least a few years of above-average service.

The man snorted. “Three-thousand? I think not! A money-maker like her is not something I'd soon let go.”

“Four, then?”

He just laughed.

With a tight-lipped smile, Miroku soldiered on. “Perhaps money is too base a thing to offer a gentleman such as yourself. I see you enjoy spirits and are a man of refined taste. I could add a dozen bottles of the finest sake from the palace’s own stores on to the price.”

“No again, lordling. If the girl has made this much an impression on you, I can only imagine what a few more years will bring me.”

Miroku looked at Inuyasha and shrugged. He nearly growled aloud; the bastard hadn’t even tried!

“Land.” Inuyasha surprised all three of them by entering into the negotiations. “You don’t own this land, the old clan head did. The new chief will own it once the emperor appoints him. What if we gave you the building and the ground surrounding it? That and the wine.”

The man was shrewd, if uneducated and still a little drunk. His eyes narrowed. “Why would the emperor do that? Why should I believe you?”

Miroku stepped in. “My friend, the emperor is a hedonist of the grandest sort. His pleasures are of the utmost importance to him, and thus to the rest of us. The girl I purchased last night proved to be just the type the emperor most appreciates. I would suggest accepting this foolishly generous offer before it is pulled from the table and replaced by my best warrior’s sword.”

Inuyasha had his hand on his blade’s pommel and that settled it.

The whoremaster scowled. “Fine. It’s a far better deal than her lordling father gave me for her and her mother, and so I’ll allow it.”

Miroku had already stopped listening and was drawing up the contract.

“Lordling? Kagome’s father is a noble?”

He grunted. “Was. Guess that’s why she catches the interest of your type. Half pure whore, half lady. We were hoping to capitalize more on that, but I'll not lose my head for it.”

“Who was he?” Already he was running through a list of men in his head. Oh gods, but had he been the clan leader? Did she hate him?

The pimp waved his hand dismissively, eyes on the document. “One of those city types that show up in disguise and with a fake name like we’re too dumb to spot ‘em.”

It had to be someone who held lands in the area, or at least someone who had business there. It wasn’t a long list, as other than the famed whorehouses the only notable thing of the area were the now abandoned mines.

The Higurashi mines.

“When was the last time the lord came to visit Kagome?”

“Musta been about three years now. Started comin’ in earnest, more than his monthly visits before. Didn’t want his daughter to be a whore and paid me to hold off the auction.” He grinned and the sight of his green rotted teeth had his stomach churning. “Didn’t care near enough as much as you do. Hasn’t been by since.”

The Higurashi patriarch had died three years ago.

Inuyasha was more than certain of Kagome’s patrilineage, but he needed to be sure. Leaving Miroku to finish the deal, he ran back up to her room. To his immense relief, it was unlocked.

Carefully, quietly, he walked over to the bed. She was still sleeping peacefully. The working women here were nocturnal creatures. Still, the sunlight loved her, and as he stared at how the beams of light fell on her naked body, he came to feel something strong for her too.

Unsure of whether or not he was welcome there now that their night was up, it took a few seconds before he nudged her, savoring the feel of her silky skin one last time. Just because he had purchased her contract didn’t mean he was going to keep her as a whore. He wanted her badly, but he was willing to try and woo her. Inuyasha would prove to her that he was a worthy man and make her want him.

Kagome smiled before she even opened her eyes. “Did you already pay for another night, my lord? I would be more than happy to start early.”

Inuyasha gulped. Would it be wrong of him to let her believe he was merely another client in a long string of clients? He wanted her, even more than he had last night now that he knew what it was like. She had awakened something in him and he feared no one else could tame it the way she could.

The half-demon gave in and kissed her.

Kagome pushed him away. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but the way she fidgeted with the sheet and couldn’t meet his eye made him hesitate.

“My lord…”

“Inuyasha.”

“Inuyasha, I let you kiss me last night because you are handsome and I like you and I knew I would never get another chance. But last night was special, and I need to guard my heart lest I end up like my mother.”

“Your mother? What happened to her?”

Her lower lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. It was very difficult for him not to take her in his arms and kiss her.

“After… My father was a wealthy man from the city and my mother loved him more than anyone, more than me. More than herself. Years ago, he stopped coming, and when my mother knew he would never see us again, she… She took poison and died.”

His heart twisted with pain. So she hadn’t even known he had died. She went to her death thinking he had grown tired of her and hadn’t wanted to follow through on buying her freedom.

“Do you see, my lord?” she continued. “It has only been one night and already I am far too attached to you. Maybe it is because you were my first. Maybe it is because you are…well, because you are you, but I feel that if I go on giving all of myself I will lose an important part and never get it back.”

“Are you saying you don’t want to see me again?”

“Oh no!” Her honey-brown eyes widened in alarm and she grabbed for one of his clawed hands, taking it between both her own. “It’s the opposite. I want to see you badly! More and more, every night.” Her cheeks colored when she realized what she had said. “If it pleases you.”

Inuyasha cupped her sweetly-shaped face, running his thumb over her plump lower lip. Despite her earlier protests, her eyelashes fluttered and her lips parted. He couldn’t help it. She was so beautiful and so warm and smelled so damned good that he needed to taste her. So he did. This kiss was slow and explorative. A promise.

“What if this was more than a transaction? What if we were lovers?”

She tried to pull away but he didn’t allow it. He couldn’t, not after the glimpse of hope he had seen in her eyes.

“You are a soldier, Inuyasha. You will see so many parts of the empire, travel far away. There are beautiful women in the city and you will leave me. That is the best possible way in which you could leave me. I won’t even think of the others. You will leave me here and I will be the only one who remembers and I will fade like my mother.” Her beautiful eyes hardened. “No happiness is worth that.”

“Is that all that’s holding you back? It’s not me or how you feel, it’s just that?” He nearly laughed aloud.

“’Is that all’!?” she repeated in anger. “You ask everything of me and give nothing yourself!”

Kagome pushed him away and stomped over to the door. Before she could take a breath and summon the words to kick him out, he had her in his arms again.

“Run away with me.”

She went still, anger forgotten. “You want me to…?”

“I don’t want to leave you here. I don’t want you to become your mother, and I’m not like your father. Come now, the owner is distracted and no one will notice us.”

“You’re serious.” She laughed and the sound was a little wild. “A soldier wants me to run away with him.”

“Tell me now, Kagome. We can leave the army behind and I’ll take you to the city. You can see the palace and I’ll give you everything you could ever want. Hell, Kagome, you don’t belong here!”

“Are you trying to say I belong with you?”

His face colored and he sputtered nonsense.

Kagome laughed. “This is crazy. You’re crazy.” She turned away from him and he felt his stomach fall to the floor in dread. “What should I pack?”

They were on the road in less than ten minutes.

Kagome’s arms were around his neck and her laughter rang loud in his ears. She was free. He was free (for now). And they were together. She was warm against his back and he smiled. Their few stops on the way back to the capital were filled with heated kisses that made the running all the more difficult for him. Kagome was more than willing to relieve him, but he didn’t want to rut with her in the dirt on the side of the road. No. He had promised her more.

The familiar ease with which he leaped over the wall of the palace was the first time she started questioning things.

“Inuyasha?” she whispered. His ears twitched at the feel of her lips. “It’s nearly evening. Shouldn’t we go to your home?”

He darted in and out of the shadows, unconcerned with the guards. True, he wasn’t exactly in royal regalia, but they would recognize him on sight. Only he didn’t want that moment yet.

Due to his absence, his apartments weren’t guarded. He didn’t even make his usual check of the room for assassins. With hours upon a lifetime of desire, he threw her on his bed. He was out of his clothes before she stopped bouncing.

“Inuyasha, what —”

He kissed her and soon all she could do was moan.

“Who are you?” she asked when it was over and it was nearly dawn.

His smile was lazy and sated as he drew her close. “I fight for what’s right and I fight for you. That’s all.”

**O\o/O**

The morning dawned all too soon and he was awake even after such little sleep. Brow furrowed, he sniffed the air. Fuck, but of course.

“Really, Inuyasha? It wasn’t enough to buy the girl but you had to run off and scare me to death as well!?”

Now Kagome was waking up.

“Shut up!” Inuyasha hissed. “Let her sleep.”

“No! You might be the emperor, but I am not letting you dictate foolishness like this!”

“Emperor?” Kagome whispered, eyes wide.

“Aw fuck,” he said, glaring at his advisor. “Way to go, asshole.”

“You mean you didn’t tell her? What the hell is wrong with you?”

Kagome rolled off the bed with the sheet and was crouching far away from the two of them, looking at him like he was a monster.

“Kagome, I didn’t mean —”

He reached for her and she cringed away. “You lied to me! What kind of game is this? I left my whole life behind for you and now I have less than nothing.”

“Let me guess,” Miroku said, “you didn’t tell her you bought her contract? What the fuck, Inuyasha?”

“Get out, Miroku!” he yelled, and he guessed the tone was enough of a warning since the advisor heeded him immediately.

“Kagome,” he said softly, kneeling down next to her corner. “I didn’t mean to hurt you or even lie to you. I just… I just wanted you to like me.  _ Me _ , not the emperor.”

She sniffled and the only part of her body not covered by the sheet was her eyes. “I thought you were a normal man! You said you weren’t like my…like  _ him _ .” Her voice broke on the last word.

“I’m not! I swear I’m not.” He ventured a hand out to sneak under the sheet and touch her hair. She let him, but he sensed she was ready to bolt at any second. “Kagome, please. It was selfish of me and stupid, too, but I didn’t want you to come with me just because you felt like you had to. I needed to know you feel the same way about me that I do about you.”

“How do you feel about me?”

“I…” Inuyasha was never a wordsmith, even less a poet, but he decided to try and let his confusing swirl of emotion burst out of him. “I don’t like people, Kagome. Not really. But you’re different. It’s like all the like I was supposed to spread out over all these other people got concentrated and fell just on you.” He knew he sounded like an absolute idiot but it was the best he could do. “You’re beautiful and you’re kind and you smell good and you’re soft and warm and —”

She kissed him.

“I’m going back to bed. You should come.”

He did, in more ways than one.

When she started to drowse, he kissed her shoulder. “You said your father was from the city. What was his name? Maybe I know him.” He tried to make it sound casual, like an afterthought.

She wrinkled her nose and snuggled closer. “Mother just called him ‘love’. He never really talked to me. Didn’t like to see me.”

He frowned. That didn’t fit with the image the brothel-owner had painted of the man, nor with what he knew about Aimoto Higurashi.

“Do you want to see him?”

“Never. He never did anything for me apart from siring me. Only that and my swaddling blanket. I brought it with me. It’s the only thing I own that the brothel didn’t pay for.”

Inuyasha waited until she went to sleep to go through the pack she had brought. The swaddling blanket was carefully folded on the very top. It was of the finest cloth, tiny golden nightingales encaged in silver were embroidered all over it. The symbol of the Higurashi clan. It confirmed what he had already guessed.

The surprise was in the name on the hem.

_ Kikyo. _

It wasn’t enough to make him think that terrible thought. No. The girls had been born around the same time. Aimoto had probably just snagged one of his legitimate daughter’s fine blankets to give to his lovechild. That was all.

Still, he opened the front door to his apartments and beckoned one of the servants milling about. It was still early enough that all the fashionable folk were asleep, but the underside of the court was in full swing.

“Take this to the Higurashi matriarch,” he said, handing the envelope to the young man.

It was rude of him to visit with so little time for the household to prepare, but he was determined. As soon as Kagome woke, he summoned any maid available to get her ready.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome protested when women bearing the finest silk robes came and measured her. They blanched when she called him by his given name. “This is far too much!”

He just grinned and kissed her, further scandalizing the women. “You gave me everything, now I’m doing the same for you.” Turning to the servants, he said, “Give her a bath and make sure she outshines the sun itself.”

They had already stopped listening, eager to play with their new doll. Comments about the fineness of her hair and pearl-like quality of her skin made her speechless but brought a smile to her face nonetheless. If he hadn’t already known he had made the right decision, that would have cinched it.

His own valet arranged his hair into the prissy official style he loathed so much, the golden combs that had belonged to his father and generations of emperors before him making him itch. Then the damnable kanmuri that made him far too tall and sometimes got knocked off in doorways if he wasn’t careful. Inuyasha insisted on wearing the firerat armor underneath his fine robes of a deep saffron. After what he was about to do, he couldn’t be too careful.

Even with how long the process to adorn him took, it was hours yet before Kagome was ready. The women were smilingly exhausted and presented her with pride.

“Do you like it?” Kagome asked. “I’m unrecognizable!”

The scarlet and gold of her robes complemented his own and he wondered if the servants had picked up on something he was only just beginning to realize himself. The powder and rouge were fashionable, but he wanted to rub it all off and see her face. Still, there was no denying it now that he was seeing her. She was made for this life.

“You look fit for a king,” he said, his heartbeat quickening at her nearness.

“I’m just glad my mother taught me how to walk in fifty layers of clothes and these towering shoes. It’s almost like she foresaw something like this.” She smiled at her own silly thought.

He was the only one left alive who knew how silly it wasn’t.

“She saw how beautiful you are and knew someone like me couldn’t help himself.”

That made her laugh. “I’d kiss you, but those nice women would have my head for smudging their hard work.”

It was customary for the emperor’s women to walk behind him if they accompanied him on a stroll, but he linked hands with her instead, needing to touch her for strength. What he was about to do was dangerous not only for his position and himself, but for her. Yet he needed to know.

The Higurashi court apartments were nearly as fine as his own. As one of the wealthiest and oldest clans, they held a great deal of power. His father’s expert arranging of Inuyasha and Kikyo’s betrothal had greatly helped his case in the unsteady beginnings of his reign.

A servant met him at the door.

“Your highness! And… My apologies, though you are obviously a lady of a great house, I do not know your name.”

“I’ve come to speak with Aimoto’s widow. Please take my companion to Lady Kikyo’s sitting room. The two of them might entertain one another.”

“Er, your highness, my lady is away at her country estate right now,” the servant said, uneasy gaze on Kagome. “Your betrothed, however, welcomes you.”

Now he was just frustrated. He had left to fight hardly a week ago and the Higurashi matriarch was comfortable in the court with no plans to move so close to her daughter’s wedding. What had changed? Whatever the case, Kikyo needed to know she had a sister. Perhaps it was better to speak to her. Her status was high among her own clan and she could convince them to take Kagome under their protection.

“Take us to her.”

The servant led them through halls richly adorned with tapestries. Kagome grabbed at his sleeve and he was grateful that she hadn’t asked any questions yet.

As soon as Inuyasha saw his bride-to-be kneeling on one of the many plump floor cushions, it became obvious.

“You know,” he said, tone more shocked than accusatory.

Kikyo continued playing her shamisen, not even bothering to greet them, showing a tremendous amount of disrespect. He guessed they were about even in that regard.

“What do I know, your highness?” The strings twanged as the melody climbed ever higher, ran ever faster. “Of your conquest? Which one? Am I to congratulate you?”

“Cut the shit.” He had never imagined speaking this crassly to her, and he guessed she had felt the same, since the music stopped abruptly. “I’m talking about this.”

Inuyasha produced the silken swaddling blanket from his sleeve.

Kagome gasped. “Inuyasha! That’s mine! What are you —”

“Your father told you that you had a sister, didn’t he?”

Kikyo’s face showed little more than distaste. “Now that you’ve dressed her up, I suppose the whore does resemble me.”

“Hey!”

“How long have you known?” he asked.

She sighed. “He told me on his deathbed. It was his last few moments with us and all he could talk about was that whore and her offspring.”

“You knew you had a sister and you left her there? You never even tried to help her?” It confounded him.

“What could I have done?” she exploded. “Sent her a note? She can’t read, none of them can! Bring her here? How long would it have been before she started trading favors and humiliating us? No, I left well enough alone and it still cost me.”

“Kikyo, what in the world is going on here?”

Inuyasha supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised by the appearance of Kun-loon Higurashi, but even after everything it was still jarring. More than seeing her and knowing Kikyo had lied, however, was his sudden realization.

Those eyes.

“Oh my!” Kun-loon quickly fell to her knees and bowed in Inuyasha’s direction. “Your highness, we were not expecting you! We only just received news of your victory this morning.” Getting to her feet, she smiled. “And who is this lovely young lady you’ve brought with you?”

Inuyasha held up the blanket. “Is this familiar?”

Her mouth fell open in a gasp. “Wherever did you get that?” Her voice was faint and she rushed over to take it. “Oh, but this has been lost since you were newly born, Kikyo. I embroidered it myself.”

“Are you going to tell her or should I?” he said to Kikyo. “The whole truth. I’ve seen enough to confirm it.”

Kikyo’s eyes were filled with a desperate kind of fire. “Whatever she has done to bewitch you, your highness, I swear I will do all that and more. Only please do not say what you have in your mind to say. It will do nothing but hurt us,  _ please _ !”

“What’s going on?” Kun-loon asked, glancing between the three young people before she finally settled on Kagome, who was nervously wringing her hands.

“That’s what I’d like to know. Why are we here, Inuyasha? Is this my father’s house?”

Inuyasha shot her an apologetic glance. “Is Kikyo’s nurse still in your employ?”

Unsure of what was happening, Kun-loon nodded. “Yes, Kaede works in the kitchens now. Forgive me, but what has merited us this visit of yours, my lord?”

“Bring her to me.”

Kikyo trembled in place, beads of sweat beginning to show on her upper lip. When Kaede entered, she went straight to her former charge.

“They know, don’t they, child?”

Kikyo said nothing, only continued to kneel with her back painfully erect.

Kaede sighed. “Understand, my lady, the master’s mind was made up and there was nothing I could do.”

Agitated now, Kun-loon said, “Will you all just tell me what’s going on!?”

“Is this her?” Kaede asked, nodding at Kagome.

“It is,” Inuyasha replied. “Start at the beginning.”

The old woman sighed. “I suppose I should apologize to you, girl, whatever ye be called now. And to you, my lady. We truly did not think… A part of you must have known all along, I thought.” She took a deep breath and continued. “The master came to me when the girl was not but two weeks old. Our lady had been suffering from fatigue and fevers since the birth and the doctors said she would not live to see another month.

“The master said he was going to take the babe to his country estate lest she catch her mother’s fever. We all thought it an awfully odd amount of concern over a girlchild, but I handed her over. He was gone a mere three days and brought me back a babe that I knew was not the same I had given him. At first, when I told him so, he called me crazy and all sorts of other things. Even threatened to throw me out on the streets.

“’Twas the guilt that made him confess, I believe. Oh, we all knew what he really did when he went to the country, but we had not guessed at how deep his affections for that woman were. The master had gotten his lady wife and his lover with child one after the other and they both bore girls in the same week. His lover told him it was a sign and begged him to take her daughter and switch the children so she might be free. He refused, but she threatened to kill herself over it, and I figure it must have been serious since he followed through.

“My lady, truly we all thought you were not long for this world, else I would not have allowed it. The master swore he would bring the girl back as soon as you were gone. But then you got better, and you were sickly, and he did not want to give you such a terrible shock and send you to your grave… And then he died.”

Kun-loon did indeed look sick. Her lips were a thin white line and her eyes were impossibly huge.

“When they took her from me, she cried incessantly. When they brought her back, she was so quiet…”

She collapsed.

Kikyo ran to her at once. “Mother!” she shrieked. “It’s not true, not really! I don’t care about any of it. You’re still my mother, the only one I’ve ever known.” In tears, she glared at Inuyasha. “This is why I didn’t say anything! Get her out of here!”

“It’s not right, Kikyo! You cheated her of her birthright, of her life!”

Kagome tugged at his sleeve. Her eyes, so much like her mother’s were full of tears. Quickly, she turned to the women of the house and bowed.

“Thank you for your time.”

She leaned against him and he knew that were he not supporting her she would be on the floor just like her mother. As soon as they were out of the house, he crouched in front of her and put her on his back just like he had what seemed like forever ago when they ran away to the capital. Had it really been just a day?

Kagome’s tears soaked his expensive clothing and he wished he could take it all back.

“I hurt you,” Inuyasha said back in their bedroom. “That’s the opposite of what I wanted to do. I never wanted to make you cry, Kagome.”

“My whole life,” she said, voice hoarse, “my mother told me that story. She made it sound like a fairy tale. A girl plucked out of the brothel by a handsome prince with a copy left in her place. I thought it was for me, about me.” She wiped the wetness from her face and took half her make-up off with it. “I think that’s why I was so ready to run away with you. You were my story.”

“What they did was wrong,” he said, taking her in his arms. “It’s a wrong I am going to right.”

“You didn’t just hurt me today, Inuyasha. You hurt them. They were a family. Now, not so much.”

“But it’s not right!”

“Families seldom are.”

He was frustrated now and rested his forehead against hers. “I just wanted you to be happy.”

She kissed him. “I am.”

She showed him just how much for hours.

**O\o/O**

They had a week of bliss together before the next interruption.

Kagome had taken to wearing nothing but his suikan and he had taken to wearing nothing at all. The servants had seen enough to know to leave his food and urgent messages at the door, and they lived as simply as one could in an elaborate palace, heating their own bath water that magically appeared at the door and making their own bed with bedding washed by unseen hands.

Such isolation made their visitor all the more surprising.

Luckily enough, they had just had a particularly acrobatic night and were taking a small rest. Kagome was sitting between Inuyasha’s parted legs and he massaged her shoulders over the material of his suikan, not wanting to arouse his lust when she was still sore.

So it was that the scene was mostly innocent and Inuyasha’s modesty was only just preserved when Kun-loon came to call on them.

They just stared at each other.

Kagome tried to get to her feet to give a proper greeting but his hands pushed down on her shoulders and she remembered his situation with a blush. He was amazed she still could after all they had done together. The girl settled for a bob of her head instead of a bow like she had intended.

Kun-loon looked mildly amused. “Please don’t fire your servants, your highness, I had one of my own sneak me in.”

“Uh, to what do I owe the pleasure, my lady?”

“I suppose it would be better for both of us if I just got right down to business. How many have you told of my late husband’s actions?”

He shook his head. “No one.”

She sighed in relief. “If it pleases your highness, I beg you allow it to stay that way. I do not want his memory to suffer.”

“You have my word. I don’t want Kagome to be made a spectacle of.”

“That brings me to my next order of business. Do you still intend to wed Kikyo?”

He flinched. Inuyasha had tried his best to forget that his wedding was mere days away. “If I must. But know that it would be nothing more than a political alliance, my lady, and would bring her no joy.”

“Women of our status don’t think of marriage as something that brings joy,” she said dryly. “And you have more support than you guess, your highness. The military is yours and no clans are foolish enough to take away their first warrior-king in living memory.”

“Are you giving me an out?”

The corners of her mouth tipped up in what was not quite a smile and he was reminded of Kikyo. “With provisions. Clan Higurashi is prepared to accept the girl now known as Kagome on the condition we be granted the land you won at your last battle with reduced taxes. You may take her as a concubine or to wife, whatever you will.”

He was shocked. “That’s it?”

“The land is very profitable and we’ve been longing to expand the operating mines. Remember that it was Clan Higurashi that tipped you off to the previous clan’s abuses and rebellious organizing in the first place. That was the goal all along. If Kikyo is no longer the vehicle by which they achieve that goal, they’ll take this instead.”

“How would this be explained to the court?”

“Easily enough. The girls are twins. Kagome was taken away to foster and the two of you were betrothed at her birth. The clan you defeated was the clan that was fostering her and they falsified her death, thinking to give you one of their own daughters as empress. Then you freed the land, discovered her, and it’s a love match.” A real smile, then. “It’s the kind of thing peasant women will tell their children. The court will love it. I hear someone’s already writing it for the theater.”

“I accept.” Inuyasha didn’t even need to think about it.

“Good.” She bowed. “I will leave you to your morning.” For the first time, she looked directly at Kagome. “And I do hope you will come and visit.” Her smile was genuine.

He couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t a perfect ending, as he had wanted to undo the cruel deed of Kagome’s father, but it was close. He had Kagome and that was all that truly mattered.

“I can barely breathe,” Kagome whispered. “I have a mother and she wants me to visit and she saw you  _ naked _ !”

Inuyasha laughed and rested his chin on top of her head, wrapping her in his arms.

“It is, you know.”

“Is what?”

“A love match.”

She reached up and tenderly caressed his ears. “I know.”


	6. Love in the Time of Quarantine

**One of Inuyasha’s tenants finds a very interesting way of supporting herself after being furloughed. He goes from being only a fan to being more than a landlord when she calls upon him to perform some maintenance.**

**Six: Love in the Time of Quarantine**

In all his years as a landlord (three and a half), Inuyasha never once thought he’d experience a pandemic, let alone that it would solve all his problems. 

When he was younger, he never would have thought he’d end up a member of the landlord class. That was his father with all his dumb ideas and opinions. He was going to travel the world and be a bodyguard to rock stars while fucking models and making bank. And he did all that for a while. It was pretty great. Really fucking great, actually. But then one of the models he fucked turned out to be the ex-girlfriend of one of the rock stars he worked for and he found himself blacklisted and alone, money dwindling to near-nothing. 

This time, when his father asked if he wanted a small slice of the family business, he jumped at the opportunity. 

His tenants were good people. The town was quiet, half of it for serious college kids and half of it for nice older people. When they were late on rent or going through a tough time, he cut them a lot of slack, a hell of a lot more than his old man would have. He was cool. He was chill. He was a nice guy. 

That’s what he told himself as he approved Kagome Higurashi for an apartment she couldn’t afford and cut her a deal. That's what he told himself when he entered the apartment after her final walk-through and put cameras in the light fixtures. That's what he told himself every time he watched her fuck her boyfriend and wait until he fell asleep to masturbate, not knowing her landlord was doing the same thing. 

Unlike everyone else in the world, Inuyasha rejoiced when the stay-at-home orders were issued. He didn’t need to go out. There was plenty of ramen and toilet paper to last him until the end of the year. All he needed were those two things and access to Kagome. His holy trinity. 

He didn’t just watch her during the times he knew she was going to be active. No, it was all the time. Sleeping, waking, eating, watching TV. It was a 24/7 Kagome show and he was loving it. 

That's how he found out all the information that changed his life. 

“What do you mean you’re not going to stay with me through lockdown?” Kagome asked, sounding perplexed and a little annoyed. She had her boyfriend on speakerphone. Inuyasha turned up the volume. “There’s no way I'm staying at your place and having your three gross roommates walk in on us again.” 

“Uh, well, I'm not at my place...” Kōga said. 

“Did you do it already?” a woman’s voice came through loud enough that he knew even Kagome with her human hearing had heard every word. 

Kagome paused. “Kōga, is that who I think it is?” 

He heard the wolf demon’s footsteps and a door closing. “Listen, it’s not what you think,” he whispered. “I had some stuff over here and I came to get it and then she invited me to stay over and I thought you n’ me were still fighting from last time and—” 

“Tell Ayame I said you deserve each other.” 

The call ended and Kagome didn’t even cry. Inuyasha wished he could let her know how much more that made him like her. 

Kagome flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. It was like the two of them were making eye contact and Inuyasha felt his heart beat faster while his stomach fluttered. Butterflies. 

Her phone rang again and the two of them jumped. 

“Listen, Kōga, I don’t want to be with—" She sat straight up, face paling. “Oh, hello, Kaede! Sorry, I thought you were someone else. Oh. I see. Yeah, no, I understand. You too. Bye.” 

Hanging up the phone, she curled up into a ball. 

“Fuck.” 

Inuyasha had done his research on his favorite tenant and he knew Kaede was her boss’ name. It seemed like the shop where she worked was closing down like everything else and now she was out a boyfriend as well as her job. Since he liked her and figured he owed her, he sent out an email saying he was in need of a secretary and worded it like it was addressed to all clients when really it was just sent to her. 

Then he waited. 

She barely glanced at the phone next to her on the bed as it lit up. “Ugh, not that asshole.” 

Kagome didn’t even read it. 

It took him longer than he liked to admit to figure out that the asshole she referred to was him. Inuyasha racked his brain and went back over every single interaction they had ever had in the seven months she had been renting from him. They were few and brief. Their first phone conversation, him giving her a tour of the unit, signing the paperwork, coming in to fix her ceiling fan... 

Yeah, maybe he had been kind of a jerk and not really spoken to her in anything more than the occasional grunt beyond the absolute bare necessities, but he had been trying to control himself and remain professional. It was difficult to be social when you were trying to look down a woman’s top without getting caught. And those short skirts she always wore didn’t exactly help. 

Would it be terribly weird if he called her and acted like he was checking up on all his tenants, just making the rounds? 

His attention returned to the screens when Kagome got up from the bed and knelt beside it. Was she praying? How cute. She bent over and reached underneath. Fuck, but he could see her panties. As he was zooming in, she straightened, a box in her hands. Tossing it on the bed, she flicked the lid off, looking at it with lips in a moue. Inside was a school uniform. 

That was the beginning of a very confusing problem for Inuyasha. 

Over the next few days, he watched in denial as she received delivery after delivery of camera and lighting equipment. Since all the salons were closed, she waxed at home until her entire body was bare. Then she took a locked metal box out of her closet. 

It was full of dildos. 

Demons were notoriously jealous creatures, so he guessed she had hidden them from Kõga. Reluctantly, he accepted that the wolf had also kept her more or less satisfied with his quick, selfish fucks if she hadn’t been using them. When the stage was all set, she put on the uniform and turned on the camera. 

“Hey there, boys!” Kagome smiled brightly on the edge of her bed. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Gosh, I’ve been so bored being stuck at home. There's no one to play with! So I figured I should play with myself again.” 

Leaning back on her elbows, she gave the camera a nice up-close view of her damp panties. Kagome ran her pink-painted nails over her slit, pulling the material of her underwear up so her pussy lips were mostly visible. Inuyasha frantically searched for her camgirl account because fuck, his camera was not in the best position for this and if he didn’t get to see everything he was afraid his balls would explode with cum and he’d die in his fucking office chair. 

The sound of Kagome’s laugh had him switching back to the monitor that showed her bedroom. 

“See how much I’ve missed you?” She moaned softly and rubbed herself over her panties. “Oh, I wish you were here right now...” 

She threw her head back and for a second he swore she was looking directly into his camera, but then her eyes closed and she ran her hands up her body, lifting her uniform blouse over her breasts. The bralet she wore was of the simplest white cotton, so thin he could see the color of her hard nipples through it. 

“We have to be quiet,” she stage-whispered, looking at the camera with a conspiratorial grin. “I don’t want my mom to hear us.” 

That part made him temporarily stop jerking off. Fuck, what was her audience into? 

Taking a dildo from underneath her pillow, she kissed its realistically shaded but not realistically proportioned tip before sliding it in her mouth. Inuyasha had been watching her for a while but even he was impressed at how she took the entirety of the massive thing down her slender throat. The muted gagging turned him on even more and he watched her suck like she had been trained by the reigning male champion of blowjobs. 

Kagome took the plastic dick out of her mouth and it made a pop sound like she’d been sucking on a lollipop. Licking the strands of saliva from her lips, she dragged the wet toy down and used it to play with her breasts. Inuyasha fantasized about how it would be to do the very same thing to her, to rub his cock over her tits and have her enfold it in her glorious breasts. Before he lost his load, he returned his attention to the screen. 

The strokes of the dildo she maneuvered were slow, long, and hard. Inuyasha committed that to memory, sharp eyes on every detail and flick of her wrist. Every time she bottomed out, she shivered. Her speed increased in tiny increments and soon she was wailing while pounding the monster dick inside herself, hips rising off the now damp bedspread. Inuyasha was right there with her and when she came in a glorious crescendo of moans and sighs, he came too, blowing his load right where her face was on his monitor. 

“Wow, that was so much fun!” Kagome said breathlessly. She took the toy into her mouth again and cleaned it, licking it all over while she moaned. “You have to come over more often. There's so much more I wanna do!” 

He was a slave to his computer after that. It took him a while to find her sex work profiles, but once the reverse image searches paid off, he subscribed to every platform she was on and followed every single one of her accounts. It looked like she had stopped doing camera work since she had moved in, and he hated that it took circumstances like this for him to see her naked. He also hated that other guys were seeing her naked at the same time, even if that aspect simultaneously turned him on. 

Being a half-demon was weird like that. 

But no matter the confusion and torment, he was there watching faithfully when she put on her shows. It always started out with her chatting in her school uniform and then went straight into the good stuff. He saw her ride her pillow to orgasm, finger her ass, stick a dildo in her ass while shoving a vibrator in her pussy and sucking on a cock-shaped gag... Too many good things. And it looked like she was making bank, too. For the first time since she had moved in she actually paid rent on time even though he had waived it. 

It was because she was going the extra mile for him and all the other lonely sad fucks out there that he decided to break the rules and answer her call. 

“Hello?” Inuyahsa was playing it cool and acting like he didn’t have her number saved when in reality his palms were sweating and he had picked up before the first ring was finished. 

“My ceiling is leaking.” 

He shuffled some random papers on his desk around. “I’m sorry about that. What unit are you in?” 

She told him. There was a weird echo and he wondered if he was on speaker. To his horror, he realized that he had left his computer volume on. It wasn’t like she’d connect the dots or even really take notice, but it was still an oversight and one he wasn’t accustomed to. 

“Okay, I'll have one of my guys get a look at it tomorrow. He'll be sure to maintain social dis—" 

“I don’t want it fixed tomorrow! Get over here  _ now _ !” 

Mournfully, he stared at the monitor. Her filming was delayed because of the leak. He had already primed himself to watch. Inuyasha took a deep breath and tucked his semi away. 

“I’ll be there in ten.” 

When she met him at the door, he was a little disappointed that she wasn’t in her school uniform. It had become what he was accustomed to seeing her in and now he connected the thing with sex. Still, the tight tank and short pleated skirt she wore were just as nice and he followed her in like a lost puppy. 

“It’s in the bedroom,” she said. 

Inuyasha didn’t remember a leak from when he had been watching her just a few minutes ago, but whatever. When he got in the room and saw the bed, he regretted ever coming. 

The camera he had put in the light fixture was right there, confronting him in all its perverted glory. 

“Fuck.” 

“Yeah.” Kagome was no longer six-plus feet away from him. “’Fuck’ is right.” 

He turned to face her, wondering how the hell he was going to get out of this one. “Did you call the cops?” 

“No.” The look on her face combined with her tone made him think she wouldn’t hesitate to do exactly that if he didn’t play this exactly right. 

“Thank you.” 

She frowned. It looked like that had been the wrong move. “Don’t thank me. I don’t work for free.” 

“Free rent,” he blurted out. “For the rest of the year!” 

Kagome narrowed her eyes. Fuck, it wasn’t like he was made of money. 

“There are more cameras, aren’t there?” 

It was the last thing he wanted to admit, but he nodded. 

She sat down on the bed next to the camera. “My price is pretty steep.” 

“I’m sorry.” He wasn’t, not in the traditional way. If he couldn’t have her, he wanted to watch her. “I’ll pay it.” 

“Good. Because I need to step up my cam game. New equipment, professional and everything. I'll send you a list.” 

“That’s it?” He still had friends in the entertainment industry. He could get her everything she needed within a week at little to no cost to himself. 

“No,” she sneered. “I’m tired of dildos and haven’t gotten any in over a month. You’re the only one around so it’s gonna have to be you.” 

Kagome grabbed him by the collar and pulled him on top of her. Half of Inuyasha was still waiting for the cops and the other half never thought he’d see this day and had no idea where to put his hands. Inuyasha hovered over her with his body not meeting hers like he was doing a push-up. He didn’t think she even realized what weird faces he was making while he tried to think things through because her eyes were on his belt and she was undoing it faster than he ever had. 

“Wait a minute!” 

It wasn’t until she looked at him with one brow raised impatiently that he realized he had been the one to speak up. 

“Uh, sorry. Just, uh, I wanna just...” 

Being a smooth talker was not one of his skills and so he decided to rely on his body rather than his brain. It had gotten him this far, hadn’t it? 

All his fevered imaginings of finally banging his tenant sped through his head as he leaned down and kissed her. At first, she didn’t respond, face screwed up in surprise and maybe also being kind of pissed off and grossed out that her creep landlord was trying to make out with her. But Inuyasha persisted, loving the taste of her mouth and the feel of her reluctant lips against his, and it wasn’t long before he had coaxed a response out of her. Then Kagome was kissing him like she couldn’t get enough and he wondered again if this was really happening. Her arms were around his neck and her breasts pressed against his chest as she swiped her tongue across his lower lip, giving it a nibble before darting her tongue inside his mouth again and seeking out his own. 

Kissing her was enough of a wet dream come to life that he worried he’d embarrass himself and lose his load just like that. Breaking away, he ignored her wanting mewl inviting him back and kissed her chin, her throat, and her chest. Slowly, he drew her top up, his claws in constant contact with her body which made her shiver. She wore no bra and her nipples were hard. Inuyasha placed a kiss on each before cupping both breasts in his unworthy hands. Still in disbelief, he rolled the nipples between his fingers as though hypnotized. Kagome gasped and arched her back, putting her hands on his. 

“Harder,” she demanded, voice softer now that she was getting what she wanted. 

Inuyasha complied, pinching the beautiful buds tight and twisting them a little. His mouth watered and he gave in and sucked, moaning at the feel of her. Kagome moaned along with him and stroked his head. Were it not for the burning arousal in his pants, this would have been the most relaxed and at peace he could ever remember being. 

“More!” 

He knew what she was asking for and gave each nipple a parting suck, promising to visit again soon. Every inch he journeyed down her body was marked with a wet kiss or love bite. When he arrived at the juncture between her thighs, her breath caught in her throat and their eyes clashed. Inuyasha maintained eye contact with her while he laid a kiss right on top of her mound. Kagome gasped and her hips bucked. When he moved on to kiss the inside of her thigh, she grabbed his hair and tried to force his mouth back to where she wanted it, but he continued on his path, gently disengaging her grip. 

The muscles in her legs jerked as he approached and he felt each and every tremble beneath her soft, smooth skin with his sensitive lips. When he got to her ankle, her foot twitched and her sandal went flying off. That saved him the trouble of doing it himself and he ran his tongue over the arch of her foot. The entirety of her body shivered and her eyes were dark pools of lust. Inuyasha told his cock that was straining towards her to wait. He had gotten off to images of her looking almost exactly like this many times already. Now it was her turn. 

She had the most beautiful pussy he had ever seen. Inuyasha was grateful he was so familiar with it and had paid enough attention to the things she did to herself to get off. That made the act much less intimidating. All the same, it had been a while for him, a whole lot longer than a month, and he just hoped she was too horny and deprived to notice if he was a little rusty. 

Kagome's hands cupped his face and brought him right up against her gushing pussy. His tongue slid between her folds with a mind of its own and his eyes nearly crossed at the pleasure, tingles running up and down his spine. Her flavor exploded across his taste buds and he hoped to the gods that this wouldn’t be the last time because now he was addicted. 

Kagome moaned and rewarded him by smashing his face against her and he tongued her all the faster, the agony of wanting her nearly uncontrollable. He pushed her legs up and attacked her with his mouth, sucking and licking her furiously, ears always alert so he knew what patterns and pressures made her get loud. His mouth was nowhere near tiring when she began to cry out, letting go of one of her legs to pinch and pull at her nipples. With a beautiful silvery splash, she came all over his face. 

“Wow,” he said, licking her from his lips. “You’re pretty when you come.” 

She didn’t respond, instead tearing off his clothes with all the fury of someone who had not yet been satisfied. Inuyasha didn’t fight it, too stunned to even react. Kagome slammed him down on the bed and grabbed his now nearly purple cock, sliding down on it as quickly as she could. 

“ _ Fuck _ ,” she breathed out when he was fully inside her, finally seeming to calm somewhat. “You feel  _ good _ .” 

“Uh, thanks?” He knew he wasn’t as big as the plastic dicks she liked to play with and relaxed a little. Inuyasha had been so focused on all the other problems that he hadn’t even noticed feelings of size inadequacy were tripping him up. 

“Shut up for a second!” 

Kagome's eyes were screwed shut in concentration and he obediently shut his mouth, watching her work on him like it wasn’t his cock she was gyrating on. Soon enough, she found a rhythm, her hips moving more confidently. Inuyasha worked up the courage to touch her again and put one hand on her hip, the other cupping a breast. Kagome's lips parted in a moan and she put her hand over his, moving his fingers over her nipple just how she liked. 

Her riding turned to grinding and both her hands were on his shoulders, nails digging into his skin. Inuyasha barely felt it, his brain only capable of feeling the sensation of her pussy clasping his cock, squeezing it and sucking it in. His hips crashed up against hers and she gasped, laughing out loud and looking at him, eyes bright with surprised delight. Inuyasha did it again, slamming up inside her, topping from the bottom. Kagome bounced along and rubbed her clit. Pearly white teeth bit at her pink lower lip and sweat beaded along her brow and down her back, making her long black hair stick to her skin. Every part of her body was straining for release. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. 

Inuyasha’s orgasm came upon him so suddenly that he almost didn’t recognize it for what it was. His body spasmed and he made noises he had never heard before. Fuck, but he had never nutted so hard in his life. One of his erratic pumps pushed Kagome over the edge too and she screamed, leaning down to bite his shoulder to muffle herself halfway through. 

It took a good long while for them to separate, and when they did, they didn’t go far from each other. 

“Wow,” Inuyasha said yet again, wondering where his vocabulary had gone. The girl made him stupid. “You’re amazing. You're beautiful. You're so—" 

Kagome groaned and put a hand over his mouth. “Not now. I'm still mad.” She smiled. “So mad that this whole paying me back thing is going way beyond lockdown. You're mine, Inuyasha. Get used to it. I've wanted you ever since I first heard your voice on the phone.” She tweaked an ear. “You’re the only guy who wanted to watch me even when I wasn’t playing a character.”

Inuyasha started to wonder what the hell he had just gotten himself into, but then she kissed him and he figured it didn’t matter since it had gotten him inside her. 


	7. Sunlight Through Cobwebs

**Kagome is a poor kindergarten teacher who still lives at home and no longer sees a need to do her makeup and hair every day. Inuyasha is a wealthy financial advisor who still lives at home and doesn’t see a reason to follow the law. Shenanigans ensue and he ends up doing community service at her school, where he ends up servicing more than the community.**

**Seven: Sunlight Through Cobwebs**

“Do you mind terribly much if I sit in on your class today, Kagome?” 

Kagome barely heard what the principal was saying, attention on the chaos that had erupted in her class the moment there was a knock on the door. 

“Uh, why?” she asked, blowing her bangs out of her eyes and tightening her slipping bun. “Shippo, put Shiori down!” 

“You’re not being reviewed or anything,” Miroku said, entering the classroom. “It’s just that Sango and I got into a fight again and I'm going to play it safe and wait until after lunch to go back to my office.” 

Kagome rolled her eyes. “Really, Miroku, you’re going to have to stop sexually harassing your secretaries at some point if you want to keep your job. I'm surprised she’s lasted as long as she has.” 

He grinned. “I know, right? She's the one!” 

Too kind to enable his delusions, Kagome merely yelled, “Shiori, put Shippo back down on the ground this very instant!” 

Once the class realized the entirety of their teacher’s attention was back on them, things quieted down instantly and they all toddled back to their seats. 

“Now, back to our lesson. We were talking about careers. Let's all go around and say what we want to be when we grow up. You first, Rin.” 

Rin smiled, showing a missing front tooth. “I wanna be a lepsyhen like Miss Kagome when I grow up!” 

Kagome was confused. “A what?” 

“A lep-see-hen. My mama says you’re a lepsyhen and I wanna be just like you!” 

“What’s a lepsyhen?” Shippo asked. 

“Any unmarried woman over thirty,” Miroku muttered from his seat behind her. 

“I’m twenty-eight,” she growled back at him. 

“Of course,” he replied, obviously unconvinced. “We really should get dinner sometime, Kagome.” 

“No way in hell.” 

His “cursed” palm was on her ass and she nearly flew getting away from him. 

“Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I won’t sue the pants off of you, Miroku!” 

“Hey, as long as someone’s getting my pants off, I'm game.” 

Grateful that the kids were chatting among themselves and discussing lepsyhenism, which Rin said her mother told her was ladies who have hair under their arms, she brought their attention back to her. 

“Macaroni!” she yelled. 

“And freeze!” the kids giggled, freezing in place. 

“Okay, good job. Now did everyone finish their drawing of what they want to be when they’re older?” 

She went around the room and collected the crayon-marked papers. A lot of doctors, singers, ballerinas, and firemen. The “lepsyhen” that Rin drew had little afros under each arm and six cats and did look disturbingly like her. 

“Miss Kagome,” Shippo said, thumb in his mouth. She gave him a look and he immediately took it out and wiped it on his pants. “Miss Kagome, what do you want to be when you grow up?” 

She smiled and clutched the papers to her chest. “I want to teach little girls and boys just like all of you. That would be a dream come true.” 

“Miss Kagome, do you have a boyfriend?” 

Before she could say anything, Rin piped up. “Lepsyhens don’t have boyfriends! They only like to play with girls.” 

The rest of the day was spent trying very hard not to call Rin’s mother and bitch her out. 

When she finally got off work, she had never been looking more forward to an outing with her friends than she was that night. It was too late for her to get home and change out of her dirty work clothes which the kids had spilled watercolors on, but that didn’t matter. They had all known each other for well over a decade and it wasn’t like they were out husband-hunting. 

The rest of her friends had already taken care of that. 

Kagome sat down at the table with her three best friends in the world. Even though they were far from their college years, it was nice to get together in just a group of girls and have drinks and talk like they used to. Ayumi had gotten married a couple years ago to one of her co-workers, Eri and her boyfriend had been living together since senior year, and Yuka had been dating a nice guy steadily for a little over a year. 

“Sorry I'm late!” Kagome said, giving each of them a careful hug. Gesturing to her shirt, she said, “There was some clean-up to be done at the madhouse.” 

“We know you well enough by now, Kagome,” Eri laughed. “We just got here.” 

Kagome summoned the bartender and ordered a round of their usual drinks, ignoring the way he eyed her disheveled state. 

“You take my drink,” Ayumi said. “I won’t be having anything more than a sip of wine for the next few months.” 

At first, it didn’t compute, but then Kagome was smiling and awwing with the rest of her friends. 

“Oh my gosh, Ayumi! How far along are you?” 

Her smile was soft and her skin was glowing. Kagome wondered what it was and then she remembered: love. 

“Two months! But don’t tell anyone yet. We're making the big announcement next month. I just couldn’t keep it a secret anymore!” 

They got their drinks and Kagome snagged Ayumi’s. She was going to need it. 

The conversation continued and they discussed names, baby shower plans, the whole works. After a couple more drinks, Yuka started giggling. 

“Did you sneak in some edibles?” Kagome asked in amusement, wondering what had tickled her friend so suddenly. 

“No! It’s just that I have a secret too!” 

“Holy shit, are you pregnant!?” 

“ _ No!  _ But honestly, I'm surprised you didn’t notice already.” 

The other three girls scanned their friend from head to toe. No baby bump, no haircut, same old purse. What was it? 

“Oh. My. Fuck.” Kagome was the first to notice. There, glinting with a distinct light among the stacks of rings her friend always wore, was a brand new one. A big diamond solitaire on a white gold band. “He  _ proposed _ !?” 

“Last night! Can you believe it?” 

“Anyone who’s seen the way he looks at you would believe it. Congratulations, Yuka!” 

For the next hour, they talked about wedding plans and dates and how they were all of course going to be bridesmaids. Her smile got more difficult to keep on her face. Just as she was about to call a car and go home, what always happened when they had more than four drinks happened and she was put under their well-meaning but intensely uncomfortable spotlight. 

“What about you, Kagome?” Eri asked, pressing her drink against one feverish cheek. “Why are you still single?” 

She knew it was coming, so she had an answer prepared. “Look,” she said, fighting off a slur and annoyed tone. “It’s not like I'm desperate for action, awright? I could get a guy anytime I want.” 

The girls looked at each other, trading skeptical glances that she hated to be outside of let alone the subject. 

“Well, maybe...” Yuka said. “Maybe that was true in high school and college, Kagome, but now you’ve got a whole...different vibe kind of thing going on.” 

“Ugh!” Kagome put her glass down a little too hard. “Okay, gods. Sorry I'm not a bad bitch anymore. I teach kindergarten. It's not exactly a mini and fuck me pumps kinda gig. But that shouldn’t matter in love, right?” Her tone took on a slight hysterical quality, pleading with them to listen to her and understand. “Is it too much to ask for someone to just love who you are on the inside and not care that the last time you washed your hair it was when a kid dumped apple juice on you and your shirt is covered in paint?” 

“That’s paint? Kagome, I thought that was pee this whole time.” Eri’s face showed relief. 

Ayumi sighed. “Look, I know you want romance, Kagome. Believe me, I understand more than anyone. But that kind of stuff is just in books and movies, okay? I love Eiji and he makes me so happy. It doesn’t matter whether he saved me from a dastardly pirate king or if he just worked two cubicles over and happened to have the same lunch hour.” 

“She’s right,” Yuka said. “You got your heart broken bad. Really bad. We were there, we saw you, and we remember. You are strong and you are beautiful. But it’s time to take care of yourself again and move on. There are nice, solid guys out there who would give you a fairy tale love in our normal, real world. You just have to notice them and then make them notice you.” 

Kagome was tired. “Thanks, guys.” 

The rest of their evening was chatting about work and it was blessedly brief. Ayumi, being the only sober one of their company, drove them all home. Kagome was the last one. 

“I know we were just talking about guys back there, Kagome,” Ayumi said nervously as she exited. “But, uh, if that’s not your thing anymore, then we’re okay with it.” 

Kagome slammed the car door and nearly ran up the shrine steps. 

After all the unwanted feedback, Kagome decided to take a nice long bath with bubbles and candles and a good book. Ayumi's comment about the pirate had her taking a certain book off her shelves and digging out her vibrator from under her pillow. 

Knowing just what volume she should have her music playing at, Kagome set up her phone and shucked off her dirty clothes. Looking at the pile on the tiled floor, she considered burning them for a second before figuring that would be too much effort. She eased her tired muscles into the warm jasmine-scented water and sighed. This was nice. It reminded her of when she’d come back to the apartment after a long day of classes and he had this exact set-up waiting for her... 

Kagome dunked her head under the water and held her breath for as long as she could. By the time she surfaced, her brain was free of him once again. Picking up the book and vibrator from where they rested on the floor, she flipped to a dog-eared page, slipping her vibrator under the water. 

_ Captain Skullcrusher caressed her quivering bosoms with a tenderness that defied his name. Estella found herself welcoming his touch. It was not proper for a princess to be with a man so, especially when they were not married and he was a wicked pirate who had kidnapped her from her doting fiancé, but she figured what Harold didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. _

_ “You’re rather wanton for a palace-bred girl,” he said, the scar that slashed across one green eye crinkling with a smirk. “One would think you almost wanted this, princess.” _

_ Raising her chin defiantly, she replied, “Princess though I may be, I am a woman above all. If you will not bow before the first, perhaps you’d bow to the second.” _

_ He chuckled and ducked his head of curly chestnut hair between her legs. “Bow indeed. We shall see whether you have earned the right to rule over me after tonight.” _

_ His tongue parted her bedewed lips and expertly caressed her inner folds. Estella grabbed at the silken red sheets beneath her, panting with yearning.  _

_ Captain Skullcrusher licked his lips and raised his head. His voice like honey and steel demanded— _

_ “ _ Hurry up already, Kagome! I need to take a dump bad!” 

With a growl of frustration at her little brother’s horrible timing, she hurriedly finished her routine and was up and out of the bathroom feeling more tense than when she had entered. 

This time when she cried herself to sleep, it was about the future instead of the past. 

**O\o/O**

Inuyasha stood up in the sports car, his upper body out the sun roof. 

“Fuck you, Tokyo!” he yelled, flipping off everyone that was outside in the wee hours of the morning. 

His friend driving the stolen vehicle was even drunker than he was and they drifted into the opposite lane of traffic. Inuyasha laughed wildly. This whole night was a fucking rush. Ducking back down into the car, he clapped Bankotsu on the back, sending them swerving again. 

“Dude, this was the best bachelor party ever! Kōga has no idea we stole his car as a prank. I think he even called the cops! Woah, fuck, slow down man, I'm gonna...” 

Inuyasha lost his very expensive lunch all over the windshield. Bankotsu's immediate reaction was to turn on the windshield wipers. Inuyasha almost high-fived him for his quick thinking but realized that it didn’t work because the mess was on the inside of the car. 

That was about the time they crashed into the building. 

When Inuyasha woke up, he was in the hospital with a really bad headache. 

“Fuck,” he groaned, blinking at his bright white and chrome surroundings. “What the hell?” 

“Hell indeed. Hell of a lot of trouble.” 

Inuyasha stiffened, almost too afraid to turn and look at the figure standing at his bedside. 

“Hey there, old man,” he said sheepishly. 

Toga sighed and sat down in the chair next to the bed. “So, your bachelor party didn’t end at the arcade last night.” 

“Yeah. We wanted to play a prank on Kōga,” he remembered. “Bankotsu and I took his car while he was in the bathroom.” 

“Was it worth four million dollars?” he asked, calm as anything. 

Inuyasha sat up in shock before groaning, the pain in his head making him lay down again. 

“F-four  _ million _ ?” 

“You crashed into a school gymnasium. It will need to be completely rebuilt.” 

He knew his dad was good for it and a ton more, but that wasn’t the problem. “I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to get so out of hand.” 

Toga sighed. “Inuyasha, you were doing so well these past couple of years. After we lost your mother, I thought I had lost my son, too. But you got better, and everything was almost in place. You do well at the company, you don’t make trouble, and you even found yourself a nice girl to settle down with. Then you go and do something like this and I wonder if everything was a lie.” 

“It’s not! I'm sorry, I really am. I'll do whatever you want to make it up to you. Work longer hours, hang out with Myoga. Anything!” 

A small smile flitted across his face before it disappeared. That was as much of a grin as he permitted himself after the death of Izayoi. 

“I’m afraid it’s not me you’re going to have to make things up to. The school has agreed not to take us to court provided we make restitution, but they want it to be more than financial.” 

His brow furrowed. “They want something other than money?” That didn’t make any sense. 

Toga nodded. “They want the assurance that they aren’t allowing some degenerate loose on the community once again. They're asking that you volunteer at the school until the construction is finished.” 

“...How long do you think that’ll be?” 

“I’ve got our guys working on it, so not more than a month. I already worked it out with the principal, a former monk, which explains the rather strange demand. You'll go to the school for the first part of your day and finish your day at the office.” 

Slowly, he nodded. “Okay. I can do that.” 

“Good. You start Monday.” 

Inuyasha rolled over onto his side and hugged his pillow. No one else came to visit him after his father left, not even his fiancée who worked in the very same hospital. 

**O\o/O**

Monday arrived far too soon for Kagome. She had spent the weekend wrapped in a burrito blanket binging dramas in her bed. By the time she remembered that she needed to do laundry, it was too late. Heaving one big sigh, Kagome forced herself to go through her closet. Her current wardrobe consisted of pajamas, work clothes that also doubled as pajamas, and lots of sweats that she also sometimes wore to work. All that was left that wasn’t dirty was a nighty she hadn’t worn in years and her old college stuff. 

Kagome stared at the pastel yellow cardigan with a frown on her face. The kids would love the little embroidered birds and flowers along the collar, but it was far too cute and delicate for her rowdy classroom. Remembering that it was either that or the nightie, Kagome kept on her sleep tank, struggled into an old pair of jeans while praying to the gods she wouldn’t split a seam, and buttoned up the cardigan. 

That one small change made her feel different. The bright color, not the plain gray or black or beige she had become used to wearing, brightened up her face and made her really look at herself again for the first time in years. She didn’t have make-up anymore so there was no way she could bother with that, but she did put her hair in a ponytail instead of cramming it into a sloppy bun. They were small steps, but the way they made her feel let her know she was absolutely moving in the right direction. 

Seeing Miroku in front of her classroom with a stranger dampened her mood a little. It was never a good thing to have the boss stop by. Kagome sighed and unlocked the classroom, motioning the men inside. 

“Hiding from Sango again?” she asked, setting up her laptop. “And you brought a bunker buddy. How cute.” 

“Nice to see you, too, Kagome.” Something about his voice was different. “Very nice. You look good.” 

“Don’t start on me, boss. I'm not as willing to put up with your tendencies as Sango is.” Kagome blew her bangs out of her eyes. “Getting to the point would be much appreciated.” 

Miroku chuckled. “Tell me, Kagome, did you notice anything different about the campus on your way in today?” 

She shrugged. “Uh, not really. Just you guys barricading my way inside my own room.” 

The principal looked at the half-demon beside him. “As I was telling you, Kagome is one of my personal favorites here, not only for her dedication to the children but also because she’s a constant source of entertainment.” 

Kagome smiled brightly at their guest. “And your friend here is an avowed ass man. Be careful, I don’t think he discriminates in that department.” 

He blinked at her. “Uh, what?” 

Miroku cleared his throat. “Yes, only our sweet Kagome wouldn’t notice that the entire gymnasium is in rubble.” 

Her jaw dropped. “The gym is gone!? Hell, Miroku, it’s going to rain today! You can’t seriously suggest I keep a bunch of five-year-olds inside during recess? I won’t survive!” 

“The good news is you’ll have help today!” Miroku shoved the man closer to her. “Kagome, this is Inuyasha. Inuyasha, this is Kagome. Have fun today.” 

Then they were alone. 

Kagome narrowed her eyes at the nervously shifting half-demon. “Is Miroku trying to get me to train my own replacement? Because I  _ will  _ sue him, I'm not joking.” 

“Uh, no. I'm... I’m the one who fucked up the gym.” Inuyasha winced at his use of profanity but thankfully she didn’t seem to care. “We worked out some volunteer stuff.” 

Stormy eyes rolled heavenward. “Great. Just great.” With a sigh, she handed him a packet of papers. “You can start by putting one of these at every spot.” 

Inuyasha obeyed. It was a lot easier than his actual job, so he figured he might as well just turn his brain off and enjoy the vacation. And his company wasn’t bad either. Stealthily, he watched her from underneath his lashes as she bent over to organize the cubbies. In his line of work, he didn’t often see girls like her. Fresh-faced, honest, and a kind of cute that didn’t need to be played up to be striking. 

“You look familiar,” Kagome said, startling him. She stretched and smiled at him as he tried to make it look like he had only just now started to look at her. “Did you go to Tokyo U?” 

“Nah, I went in the states.” He thought about it for a second. She looked familiar too. “Did you teach at Shikon High? I used to go there.” 

Kagome blinked at him in disbelief. Had he really just asked if she had been his teacher!? They were the same age! She was opening her mouth to say something she would probably regret later when he snapped his fingers. 

“I know! You're Kagome.” 

“Um, duh. Miroku made that pretty clear.” 

He scowled. “No, idiot. You're  _ Kagome _ . Kikyo’s cousin.” 

Now she knew exactly who he was. Of course, this was the infamous fiancé she had seen in all the Insta posts. 

“Oh. The whole destroying the gym kind of makes sense now.” 

“You got something against Kikyo?” he asked, angry that the woman he had just been checking out was putting down him and his beloved fiancée. 

“Well,” she said patiently, taking that annoying teacher tone with him, “you’re the rebound that stuck around. The whole bad boy vibe you’ve got going on doesn’t surprise me. That's why she picked you.” 

The things she said felt true in that insecure part of him that wondered why Kikyo never wanted to discuss the relationship she’d had before she met him and why he hadn’t met her family and why most of their interactions were in front of her friends and colleagues, like their relationship was a show to be performed and all the viewers knew more about it than he did. 

“Whatever.” He smoothed out the paper he had begun to twist, placing it on some kid’s desk. “Now I get why she doesn’t ever talk about you guys much.” 

She snorted. “Her highness doesn’t like to be reminded of her poor relations.” 

His brow raised. “I thought all the Miko family was wealthy.” 

“Mikos, yes. Higurashis, not so much.” At his questioning look, she continued, “My mother married for love. My father was a shrine priest and lived off of donations and grants. My mom’s twin sister, Kikyo’s mom, married for money and never worked a day in her life. You do the math.” 

She didn’t sound bitter about it, but she sure as hell sounded judgmental. “Well, Kikyo and I are marrying for love and we both have money so it’s not like gold digging runs in the family.” 

Kagome laughed, and even though it was at him, he still thought it was a nice sound. 

“You really don’t know Kikyo at all.” 

The kids started to trickle in then. Shippo stared up at her in awe, his thumb falling out of his mouth even without her giving him the look. 

“Miss Kagome, you’re  _ pretty  _ today!” he said in disbelief. 

Rin ran into the room and looked at her like she had just ruined her life. “No, Miss Kagome! You’re supposed to be a lepsyhen, not pretty!” 

Inuyasha choked. 

Giving him a warning glare, Kagome turned back to her class with a broad smile. 

“We have a very special guest today, class. This is Mr. Inuyasha. He's going to be Miss Kagome’s helper, so if you have any questions, just let him know.” 

The look in her eye was something devilish and Inuyasha wondered what was going on. 

The ginger kid looked at him and raised his hand and Kagome gestured for him to answer. 

“Uh, yeah...” He checked his memory. “Shippo.” 

“What are those things on your head?” 

“They’re my ears. I’m half dog demon.” 

Another kid raised his hand and he pointed at him. 

“Why is your hair so long?” 

The floodgates were opened and they stopped raising their hands. 

“Are you a boy or a girl?” 

“How old are you? Forty?”

“Where do you live?” 

“My mom says I can help vacuum today!” 

“Will you come to my birthday party?” 

“Are you Miss Kagome’s boyfriend?” 

“Are you a lepsyhen?” 

“That’s enough questions!” Kagome said, coming to his rescue. “How about a story?” 

The kids jumped up excitedly, standing behind their chairs and pushing them in. 

“Okay,” Kagome said, the big smile on her face showing just how much she loved her job and also maybe that she had forgotten he was there. “Everyone whose name starts withhh...’S’ can hop like a bunny over to the reading rug!” 

She continued like that until every kid was sitting cross-legged on the rug with their hands folded in their laps and their backs straight. Kagome handed him a picture book with a smirk. 

“If you thought it was bad before,” she whispered, “just you wait.” 

A cold sweat began to break out on his neck and chest. Inuyasha cleared his throat and sat in the tiny rocking chair that seemed made for children and Kagome-sized people only. Looking down at the book in his hands, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was a story he knew. The Ugly Duckling. How hard could that be?

Inuyasha held up the book and read the title. A hand went up. 

“Uh, yeah.” 

“My name’s Shiori,” the girl said. Then stopped. 

“...Okay. Hi there.” He waited a little, but nothing else was forthcoming. 

Clearing his throat, he read the title again. 

Two hands went up. He pointed at one. 

“Why is the duckling purple? Where do purple ducks live?” 

“It’s a drawing. A lot of the time, drawings don’t look like real life.” 

“But where do purple ducks live?” 

“They don’t exist.” 

The kid’s chin began to tremble. “A-are they d-dead?” 

He called on the other kid. 

“Where are his mom and dad?” 

“Maybe we’ll find out more if we let Mr. Inuyasha read the story,” Kagome broke in. 

Inuyasha glanced at her, torn between being grateful and being pissed off she had put him in this position in the first place. After a lot of stops and starts and trying to avoid answering more questions, they were finally finished. Inuyasha glanced at his watch. 

How in the fuck had it only been fifteen minutes!? 

“What did you all think of The Ugly Duckling?” Kagome asked. “I know most of us probably have heard this story before, but hearing someone else read it always makes us notice new things.” 

Rin raised a hand and Kagome called on her. “If there’s a lepsyhen, is there a lepsyduck?” 

Inuyasha burst out laughing. 

The rest of the day ran more or less smoothly. He and Kagome seemed to naturally work well together. When the kids ran their mouths, she put them in their place. When they got physical, Inuyasha was there. By the end of the day, the two of them were laughing like old friends. 

“Thank you so much for your help today, Inuyasha,” Kagome said. 

“No problem. I liked it.” He was startled to realize it was true. Bending over, he grabbed the dust pan he had been sweeping into and dumped it into the trash. 

“They’re more than a handful, but you held your own. I know they’ll be asking about you for the rest of the year.” 

He laughed. “Poor you. What  _ is  _ a lepsyhen, by the way?” 

Kagome playfully slapped his arm. “Wipe that from your brain like I’m trying to wipe it from Rin’s. Come on, I'll buy you a coffee in thanks.” 

Inuyasha looked at where her hand lingered on his arm and looked back at her. Fuck, he wanted to, he really did. 

“Uh, I actually have to get back to the office. My old man will be upset if I'm not there in a few.” 

“Oh.” Kagome put her hands in her pockets and shrugged. “Okay. Well, I owe you one, whenever you want.” 

“Yeah.” He paused, hating how awkward everything suddenly was. “I do want to see you again. I mean, I will, because I'll be helping out here, but... You know.” 

The smile was forced. “Have a good rest of your day. Don't work too hard.” 

He nodded, suddenly mournful. “I’ll tell Kikyo you said hi.” 

It wasn’t until Kagome got back to her room that she allowed herself to really feel her embarrassment. Her pink pillow was the thickest and she grabbed for it, screaming into its fluffy depths. Gods, what had she been thinking? She had actually just asked out a man for the first time in years, for the first time  _ ever _ , and it was her cousin’s future husband. Hell, she was a mental case. 

Shrugging out of her cardigan, she threw it across the room, glaring at the crumpled lump. Somehow, it was that thing’s fault. 

**O\o/O**

It had been over a week since he had volunteered in Kagome’s classroom and he was still stuck on her. 

“Hey, convict!” the fourth-grade teacher he was assisting said, snapping his fingers in front of his face. “Wipe everything down with Clorox while the kids are out. I'm gonna have a smoke.” 

He grumbled and did as told. Ever since he had last seen her, he had been expecting to see her again, but he never did. Of course, it wouldn’t be too difficult to pass by her classroom or drop by the teacher’s lounge, but then she’d  _ win _ , and he couldn’t explain even to himself what that meant. 

“Hey, Renkotsu, do you have any more of those pipe cleaners?” 

Inuyasha stood straight up, knocking over the chair he was wiping down. It was her. 

“Hey!” he said, smiling. His cheek was twitching like it only did when he was nervous. What the hell was this? 

“Oh,” she said, backing up a little until she was in the doorway again. “Inuyasha. You're here.” 

They stared at each other for a second until the silence became something they couldn’t ignore. 

“Uh, you wanted pipe cleaners? Like Drano?” 

Kagome laughed and even though it was at his expense again, he smiled in return, feeling ridiculously pleased that he had brought a smile to her face. 

“No! For crafts. They’re fuzzy, bendy, wiry things.” She breezed into the classroom and opened a metal cabinet on the far end. “Here they are.” 

Inuyasha laughed at his own mistake. “What are you gonna do with those?” 

“We’re making puppets!” 

“That sounds like fun.” It actually did. The Clorox smell never bothered him more than it did at that instant. 

“You could stop by,” she said. “After you’re done today. I'll be there for a bit and you could take a look at the little monsters my little monsters made. And we could get that coffee.” 

The way her cheeks turned pink and he felt his own do the same told him that they were never going to have that coffee together. 

“Thanks. I really want to, but we have the engagement party tonight, and I need to go right after work and get ready.” 

“Oh. Yeah, I forgot about that.” 

“I’ll see you there, though.” 

“Yeah.” 

She walked out and he wanted to call her back, but he didn’t have a good reason, only a lot of bad ones. 

Kagome mentally kicked herself all the rest of the day. When she got home, she ran up to her room without even bothering to check in on her family. All she wanted to do was go to sleep and forget that she had embarrassed herself for a second time with the first guy she’d liked in forever. 

“Kagome?” A knock on the door woke her up. “Can I come in?” 

She rolled over onto her back and clutched one of her stuffed animals to her chest. “Sure, Mama.” 

“Kikyo’s engagement party is tonight,” Mrs. Higurshi said, sitting beside her on the bed. “What are you wearing?” 

Kagome hid her face behind the teddy bear. “I’m not going,” she said, voice muffled by fluff. 

“There’s a problem with that, dear. Kikyo is coming here.” 

She sat straight up and nearly fell off the bed. “Here? They're coming  _ here _ !?” 

“That’s right! Kikyo wanted to show her fiancé the shrine so he can see where they’ll be married in person.” 

Her groan was pained. Here. They were coming here. What was she going to do? What was her excuse? Headache, stomachache, heartache? 

The doorbell sounded downstairs. Even her mother looked stressed now. 

“Oh goodness, they’re early! Please, Kagome, come down and entertain them while I get the snacks ready.” 

“No way!” she squeaked. “Mama, I've been sleeping on my face and drooling into my pillow for the last few hours. I look horrible!” 

Voices. A door closing. Gods damn it, Sōta had been stupid enough to let them in. It was now a true emergency. 

“Please, Kagome!” Her mother grabbed her hand and looked at her like she was her only lifeline. “It’s just family and it will only be for a few minutes.” 

“No!” 

“You know if you don’t then they’ll just come up and see your depression nest.” 

Touché. Kagome sighed. “Fine.” 

Grabbing a hoodie, she put her hair up in a bun. Going over to her mirror, she checked quickly for sleep lines and any other embarrassments, almost afraid to look at herself and give her more anxiety about what was to come. Quietly, she made her way down the stairs, getting halfway before she realized she wasn’t wearing pants and darting back up to slip into a pair of yoga pants. Maybe they’d think she had been working out? Turning around, she looked at her butt in the mirror. Not even she could lie to herself about that. 

Pasting on a smile, she waved at her cousin. “Hi, Kikyo. You look great!” 

The older woman was dressed like she was headed to a yacht party. “Thanks! You... Uh, you look so cozy!” 

It was meant to be nice and that’s what made it so much worse. “Yeah. Nice to see you, too, Inuyasha.” 

“Hey!” He couldn’t keep the smile from his face. The whole house smelled like her and he took deep lungfuls of air on every breath. “So. This is where you live.” 

Kikyo quirked a brow. “You two know each other?” 

Kagome looked at Inuyasha, confusion on her face. She had gotten the impression he was telling Kikyo all about his volunteer work. Surely she would have been important enough for him to mention at least once. 

“Yeah, I was in Kagome’s class on my very first day of volunteering.” 

His fiancée nodded. “Oh, so that’s why you transferred to the older kids. Got it.” 

That was enough. “It was good to see you both, but I'm kind of busy right now, so I'm gonna head back up...” 

Kikyo grabbed her much shorter cousin by the hood and prevented her from continuing to walk away. 

“Wait a minute, little cousin. Were you working out just now? Show me your regimen. I want to know how you eat like you do and stay proportioned how you are. Though all that cake is going to be hard to fit into a formal gown...” 

The very petite teacher who was no longer a college volleyball player turned around and smiled tightly, wondering just how bad her crazy eyes were right now. 

“I have papers to grade. Have a good night.” 

Inuyasha snorted. “It’s kindergarten, how do they have grades?” He knew he was being a bastard, but he was upset. He had made Kikyo bring him all the way here just so he could see Kagome and where she lived after she had told him her cousin always skipped out on parties. Now she was ignoring him and trying to get away. 

“They have grades because we need to know if their development is progressing appropriately or if something is different, like if they have a learning disability or they’re gifted. Their consistency also determines who gets candy on Fridays.” 

“I can’t imagine being locked in a room with children all day,” Kikyo said. “That must be hell.” 

“It is,” Inuyasha confirmed. 

She smiled and it was real and it made him regret bringing negativity into her house. 

“I love my kids.” Kagome turned to leave again, nearly jumping out of her skin when she heard her cousin scream. 

Inuyasha was similarly shocked, holding his hands over his ears. “What the hell, Kikyo!?” 

Kikyo was looking at her phone with a horrified look on her face. Kagome was smart enough to hightail it out of there and go back to the safety of her room. She locked the door and leaned against it, releasing a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Whatever it was she had just escaped seemed like a whole lot of something she didn’t want to be a part of. 

“What’s wrong?” Inuyasha asked. 

Kagome was annoyed that she could still hear them even though she was in her room. Hell, she might as well eavesdrop now that sleep was impossible. 

“It’s Hitomiko! Oh my gods!” 

“What is it? Was she... Was there an accident?” 

“Yes!” Kikyo sobbed. “Look at this awful haircut! Those aren’t even bangs. They're like goddamn forehead sideburns! What is this!?” 

“It can’t be that bad—Oh fuck.” 

“Why is she doing this to me?” she cried. “There’s no way she can be a bridesmaid now!” 

“Just have her wear it up, Kikyo. It’s not the end of the world.” 

“No, it doesn’t fit the aesthetic! Tsubaki and Kaede both have long hair and it’s supposed to wave beautifully and elegantly down their back. Not spike like whatever this is!” 

“...Why not Kagome?” 

“Kagome?” she scoffed. “They don’t make formal sweatpants, Inuyasha. There's no way.” 

“But she fits the ‘aesthetic’ without even really trying. She's perfect. Er, perfect for your theme.” 

There was a pause before Kagome heard someone pounding up the stairs. Then her door was shaking with all the knocking. 

“Kagome!” Kikyo hollered. “I know you were listening! This is important. You are my new bridesmaid and you’re going to look like it. Take the day off tomorrow, we’re going to the mall.” 

Even Kagome knew better than to cross a bridezilla and quickly notified administration that she was going to need a sub, apologizing for the short notice. 

Kikyo was there at the crack of dawn to take her to the spa. Kagome got in her perpetually new-car-smelling expensive luxury vehicle and blinked her crusty eyes. 

“Are those the same clothes you were wearing last night?” Kikyo asked. 

Kagome grunted. Out of the corner of her eye, she took in her cousin’s cashmere sweater and flowy pants, groaning internally. 

“You’re paying for all this, right?” 

Kikyo shuddered and drove off. “Gods forgive me. I should have done this a long time ago.” 

For hours, Kagome was scrubbed, massaged, waxed, plucked, and massaged some more. When it was over, she was left feeling so raw that she shivered, wondering if she would ever feel like a solid human again. 

Obviously used to such treatment, Kikyo grabbed her by her now-manicured hand and dragged her across the mall to a bunch of stores. The make-up store was filled with people dying to pour make-up on top of what they claimed was her “perfect” skin and she got a ton more stuff than she ever thought she could use in a lifetime. Then came the clothes. Oh gods, the clothes. More than enough pieces to freshen and even replace her wardrobe. 

When it was finally over, the two of them collapsed down on the edge of one of the tiled fountains. Kagome laughed aloud and the sound was a little crazy. 

“Wow,” she said, sipping her milkshake. “Thanks, Kikyo. This actually ended up being kind of nice.” 

One side of her cousin’s mouth tipped up in what was not quite a smile. “It’s entirely selfish. You'll be coming to a lot of events and I need you to look the way you did before... Well, you know.” 

Kagome sighed. “Yeah. I know.” 

Kikyo took a deep breath and turned to her. “Kagome, I've wanted to say this for a long time, especially now that I understand a little more what you’re going through. You can’t let what happened get you down for this long. That just means he won.” 

“It’s hard,” she admitted. “We were together for so long and I just thought I had the rest of my life all set and taken care of.” 

“I know. Believe me, I know. But just imagine if I had let what Suikotsu did change me?” 

“But you did.” 

Kikyo’s brow furrowed in honest confusion. “I did? How?” 

“You’re not the same person you were before. Kikyo, when you first started working at the hospital, you were so  _ happy _ . And when you met Suikotsu, that was magnified. Even though you were in administration, you cared about the patients. You fought for their quality of care and their rights, and you fought for the doctors and nurses, too. But now you’re—” 

“I’m not  _ nice  _ anymore,” Kikyo said, self-directed acid in her voice. “I had to become stronger and I saw that I can’t let a man be my future. We both learned that the hard way.” 

There was more to it than that, but Kagome knew Kikyo wouldn’t listen to it. Not from her, anyway. There was only one person who could get through to her, and he left a long time ago. 

**O\o/O**

When Kagome showed up at school again, there was no small stir over her arrival. The kids were happy to see her, as of course they would be since she had missed a day and they all just assumed she was in the hospital. But when she came back looking like  _ that _ , it was mania. inuyasha was almost glad he was outside trimming the hedges so he didn’t get the full force of the screeching commentary. 

“Miss Kagome! You’re back— You're not Miss Kagome.” Rin stared at her like she was a ghost. “Miss Kagome is a lepsyhen. You look like a TV lady.” 

“It’s definitely me, Rin,” Kagome chuckled. “And your mom is going to have a very uncomfortable parent-teacher conference, trust me.” 

“Miss Kagome, will you marry me when I grow up?” 

“Stop sucking your thumb and I'll think about it, Shippo.” 

The male teachers kept popping by her room to ask random questions and even Inuyasha couldn’t tear himself away from his place by her window, pruning the plants until they were twigs. Light make-up wasn’t a major change, but fuck, the way she wore that skirt shouldn’t have made him feel the way it did. And her tailored blouse made him realize things about that area that made him stare. 

“Spying on the pretty teacher, are you?” 

Inuyasha jumped, nearly throwing the shears in the air. 

“Fuck, Miroku! What the hell are you doing here?” 

“What do you mean? This is my school.” 

“Well why the fuck are you in the bushes? At least I have an excuse!” 

He held a finger to his lips. “Shhh, don’t tell Sango I wanted to get a peek, too. She's the jealous type.” 

Inuyasha raised a brow. That secretary slapped the principal if he even looked her way. Sometimes, Inuyasha thought she looked forward to it. His attention returned to the window when he saw Kagome bending over to drop a kiss on Shiori’s head. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, mostly to himself. “If she looked like that when we first met...” 

“Then what? You'd cheat on your fiancée?” 

Inuyasha turned red. “No! I just, I mean, why is she dressing hot all of a sudden?” 

Miroku shrugged. “That’s how she used to look when she started to work here. Honestly, that’s why I hired her. But her temper is even greater than my Sango’s, so it never would have worked between us.” 

“When did things change?” 

“Couple years ago.” 

“What happened?” 

Kagome threw a small bean bag at the window and glared down at both of them. 

“You’re distracting my class!” 

Her hands were planted on her hips and the way she was standing made the buttons on her blouse pucker a bit and he saw a tiny lacy bit of bra. The way his breath hitched in his throat scared him almost as much as the thought of her wrath, and he went off to do some more groundswork, hoping that she would ask him for coffee again and praying he had the strength to deny her. 

The night of the rehearsal dinner arrived and Kagome actually showed up, much to everyone’s surprise. Inuyasha couldn’t help his eyes from sliding over her body, taking in the high heels she tottered on and the way the peach dress made her skin glow. The whole night, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. 

Neither could his groomsmen. Kōga was faster than Bankotsu and snagged a seat next to Kagome, Kaede on her other side. Inuyasha gritted his teeth and took a sip of wine. Inside he was stewing over the fact that Kōga was in the wedding party at all. They were friends, yeah, but Kikyo had insisted he stand up with them because she thought the contrasts in their coloring would be nice for photos. Now the wolf had one of his slimy hands on Kagome and she hadn’t looked at him even once. 

As he watched Kōga fawn all over the teacher and ask tons of personal questions, he consoled himself with the thought that it wouldn’t be too long before she’d give him one of her very effective verbal smackdowns and put him in his place. It became the one thing he was looking forward to, tuning out the rest of the party and gleefully waiting for the moment to arrive. 

Instead, she just flushed prettily and smiled up at the wolf demon. It was almost like she was enjoying the attention. Inuyasha stared at them in open-mouthed disgust when Kōga put a hand on hers and Kagome giggled like she was nervous or something. What fucking alternate universe had he landed in and when could he leave? 

“So Kōga,” he said before he could stop himself, “how’s Ayame?” He smirked. The wolf demon’s fiancée would definitely not take it well when she heard Kōga had been all over a human girl the one time she left him alone. 

He suddenly looked theatrically forlorn. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, but I didn’t want to bring down the party. We separated. I caught her cheating.” 

Inuyasha choked on his wine. There was no way that was true. Ayame was one of those idiotically loyal stand-by-your-man types even when it made no sense. Kōga, however, had cheated on her tons of times in an effort to get rid of her. 

“Oh no!” Kagome said, all sweet sympathy. The glare she directed at Inuyasha cut him to the core. “I’m so sorry, Kōga. I know exactly what that’s like.” 

Kikyo groaned and he knew from the sound that she was way past drunk. 

“Not the Hojo story!” she slurred. “Not again.” 

Kagome paled. “I wasn’t going to broadcast it to the table, Kikyo. Geez!” 

“Sor _ ry _ !” Kikyo said. “I just thought that tonight is all about forgetting the men that did us wrong and focusing on the future.” 

That grabbed his attention. “Whaddya mean ‘us’?” 

Kikyo froze. The brief look she sent to Kagome was apologetic and then she was smiling conspiratorially at the rest of the table. 

“Okay, so this one is a wild ride. Kagome here dated Hojo almost from the start of high school. They met in freshman year and she instantly seduced him away from his former girlfriend. They went to college together, graduated together, got a place together. It was so cute it was boring. We were all waiting on when he’d pop the question. We even had a betting pool! Hojo was so predictable so I put a hundred on Christmas Day, totally sure I'd win. 

“But one day Kagome and I were shopping in the city and guess who we saw hand in hand with his very  _ pregnant  _ first girlfriend, that one girl from freshman year? Yeah, it was Hojo. Turns out Kagome was the other woman the whole time. Hojo even married the other girl right after they graduated! I mean, how dense do you have to be to not notice that the man you live with is married to someone else?” 

Kagome quietly said goodbye to Kōga and hurried out. 

“That was fucking awful, Kikyo,” Inuyasha said. Throwing his napkin down on the plate, he ran after her. 

Kagome was standing under a streetlight and hurriedly texting. Inuyasha saw the tears glitter in the light and felt his heart twist with pain. 

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Kikyo never should have said those things.” 

She sniffled and wiped away the tears, a smear of mascara on her cheek. 

“It’s true. It was all true, so who cares.” 

“But it wasn’t her story to tell. That's yours.” 

They stood there while she cried. 

“Can I...” He hesitated, knowing what he really wanted to offer but wondering if she would even accept it. What would happen if she did? “Can I give you a ride?” 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” His heart beat faster. So she knew what this was, too. “I mean, you’ve had too much to drink and I already called a car anyway.” 

“Good. Let's share a ride.” As soon as he said it, he knew it was the wrong idea and that he was going to do it no matter what. 

She smiled, tears pooling in her dimples. “Okay.” 

The ride to the shrine was quiet. It seemed like the two of them could never have a proper conversation whenever anyone else was around. He guessed it was because perhaps someone else was willing to name the feelings that ran between them and neither of them wanted to hear it. When the car pulled up to the shrine steps, he got out with her. Kagome was surprised, but didn’t question it. 

“Thanks for seeing me home,” Kagome said as they took off their shoes in the foyer. “That means a lot, Inuyasha. I won’t forget it.” 

“It’s not a problem. I wanted to.” Had wanted to ever since the first time she’d asked him out. 

The silence thickened and there it was again, that tension. 

Kagome cleared her throat. “Uh, there’s tea and stuff, if you want. I’m just gonna change into my pajamas and watch a movie before heading to bed. Thanks again.” 

She walked upstairs. A few more tears slipped out on the way and she was glad her back was to him. Fuck Kikyo, there was no way she was going to be in the wedding now. Mascara streaks marred her face and she scrubbed it all away, hating that she had spent over an hour on her make-up only for things to end up like this. When she was all shiny and clean, she went to her bedroom. The dress was one of the ones Kikyo had picked out and she dropped it to the floor, stepping on the pretty chiffon. She never wanted to see the thing again. 

“Kagome, I was wondering—" 

She turned around, hoping to the gods that it was her little brother and not the man she knew it was standing there. Inuyasha's frame filled up the doorway and he was looking at her like he’d never seen a woman before. The both of them were frozen. Then, slowly, she put her arms behind her back and unhooked her bra. Inuyasha was on her before it hit the floor. 

His kisses were full of fire and she answered them with starved passion. The result was a wild storm of lips and tongues. She sucked his lower lip and he nibbled hers, fangs pricking her. Their tongues met while trying to lick her blood away and they both moaned. 

Carefully, he lowered her down on the bed, never breaking their kiss. Strong hands palmed all over her body, slipping off her panties so he could feel her heat and grab her ass. Her arms drifted from their place around his neck and hurriedly undid his buttons before either of them could start to think again. When he was as nude as she was, they lay with their entire bodies pressed together, reveling in that simple bliss of contact. 

Kagome parted her legs and rubbed up against his hard cock. The both of them gasped at the feeling and Inuyasha kissed her again. His kisses ventured to the rest of her face, visiting every inch of her skin, then her neck, then her breasts. That first touch of his hot breath on her straining nipple made her arch her back into his mouth and he sucked greedily. His hand came up to play with the other one and she sighed his name, fingers ghosting across the muscles of his back. 

Switching nipples, he worshipped at the other one. The fingers that had been playing with her other breast smoothed down her ribcage and soft stomach and then arrived between her thighs. One finger circled her clit before entering her. Inuyasha whimpered against her breast. 

“You’re so tight. And so wet,  _ fuck _ .” 

Her tongue darted out and licked a slow trail up the shell of his ear. Chills ran down his spine. 

“I can’t wait until you’re really inside.” 

A sound of surrender escaped him and he was kissing her again, fingers pumping away inside her. Kagome pressed herself against him, trembling. Just when she was about to come, he removed his fingers as though burned. Inuyasha pulled away from their kiss as well and she worried that he had returned to sanity and changed his mind. 

When she saw how his eyes still burned and reflected only her, she knew she need not have worried. 

“Open,” he said, voice barely more than a growl. 

Kagome obeyed and he stuck his fingers in her mouth. She moaned at the taste of herself and cleaned them off well. Inuyasha watched her and panted, bright eyes and messy hair making him look entirely crazed. She guessed they both were. 

Her hand sought him out and she stroked his length, smiling and giving him a kiss when he released a shuddering breath. 

“Come inside,” she said, and he could no longer hold back from crashing into her. 

The first thrust felt so good, too good. Inuyasha forced himself to stop, burying his head in between her neck and shoulder. Kagome stroked his back and kissed the side of his head. He trembled and returned the kiss, first to that sensitive bit of flesh he had hid in and then to her lips. He moved too slow and held her gaze too much and kissed her lips too often for what they did to be called fucking. 

Kagome recognized what was happening and bit her lip, trying to look away. Inuyasha grabbed her chin and forced her back again. Kagome gave up and with a sob gave herself over to him completely. 

Their hips met again and again, moving faster and faster as they reached their peak. He pushed her legs back until her knees were by her ears. Every time he bottomed out inside her, she released another cry, growing sharper and louder. His greedy eyes took the sight of her in and he didn’t know how he could ever give this up. Sweat slicked both their bodies and his thrusts turned to grinds. He was too close to do more than that. With a twist of his hips, Kagome shattered around him, his name ringing in their ears. When he followed her, he groaned her name into the mess of her hair that tangled on the pink sheets. 

The two of them didn’t separate. Once they had calmed, he rolled them over, kissing the top of her head and holding her in his arms. Kagome had forgotten how good, how warm, it felt to be held like this. A few tears slipped out and she hoped he would think it was just more sweat. Just a few more minutes... 

“Why are you crying? Did I hurt you?” Inuyasha sounded so concerned that it broke her heart. 

Kagome turned her face away from him and he brushed the hair out of her face, giving her a small smile. 

“You should probably get home,” she said. 

His brow furrowed. “What? Kagome, there’s no way I can marry Kikyo after that. You felt it too, right? Of course you did.” 

“Don’t be stupid,” she said, pushing away from him. “We were drunk. We weren’t thinking, okay? It's not happening again. You should leave.” 

“Don’t do this, Kagome,” he pleaded. “This wasn’t just sex and you know it. I like you! I really like you. You and me, we’re the ones who are supposed to be together.” 

“I’m not going to be the other woman again!” 

Something in her face or voice made him stop. Inuyasha stared at her for a moment before nodding. 

“Okay. I'll go.” 

For the first time since she had met him, she cried herself to sleep. 

**O\o/O**

The night before the wedding found Kagome staring at her phone and fretting over whether she should send the text. Kikyo deserved to know. Didn't she? It wasn’t Inuyasha’s fault, it was hers, pure and simple. 

The phone lit up and vibrated and Kagome shrieked, tossing it into the air. Picking it up again, she answered. 

“Hey, Kikyo.” 

“...Hey, Kagome.” A deep breath. “I’m sorry. For the dinner. I just panicked when I realized I had kind of mentioned you-know-who and talked about Hojo so Inuyasha would get distracted.” 

“It’s okay,” she said. After all, she had gotten her disproportionate revenge already and felt horrible about it. 

“I’m coming over.” 

Kikyo arrived with all her wedding stuff in tow. Kagome was surprised at her normally glamorous cousin’s appearance. She looked as bad as Kagome felt. Her hair was tangled and she wore an old college t-shirt and faded jeans. 

Had Inuyasha told her? 

“My world has just been rocked, Kagome.” 

She stared at her in dread. This was it. Whatever came next, she deserved it and more. 

“Suikotsu wants to see me.” 

“What?” Kagome squeaked. This was the last thing she’d been expecting. 

“He sent me a letter,” Kikyo said, bloodshot eyes looking over Kagome’s head into a world she couldn’t see. Her face fell into her hands and her shoulders began to shake. Kagome realized she was crying and rubbed her back. 

“Kikyo, I’m so sorry...” At least she could get the words out. 

“I’ve been trying so hard!” she sobbed. “But I’m not... I’m not happy. I'm not confident. I'm not strong. I'm  _ bitter _ .” Kikyo met her eyes. “And it’s all his fault.” 

“It sounds like you need to tell him what you told me. You need closure. Maybe write him a letter, too.” 

“I sent Suikotsu an invitation,” she said as though Kagome hadn’t spoken. “I wanted to be a bitch about it and rub it in his face, to show him that I went on without him. But his letter... Gods, Kagome! It was so sweet, so understanding. It just reminded me of why I fell in love with him in the first place.” 

“Kikyo, you’re marrying Inuyasha in,” she checked her phone, “nine hours.” 

“I know that! Believe me, it’s all I’ve been thinking about.” She didn’t make it sound like a good thing. “I know, but I need to see him. I need to tell Suikotsu that I’m sorry. When he left to do Doctors Without Borders, he wanted me to come with him. But I didn’t want that, Kagome. I didn’t want the life my parents had, traveling the world to save people who can’t be saved until we die just like them. He needs to know it wasn’t him I said no to, it was that life.” 

“You’re going to see him  _ now _ ?” 

Kikyo nodded. 

Kagome bit her lip. She felt guilty enough that she was willing to help her cousin out with any scheme she wanted to hatch. 

“Okay. I'll cover for you. I'll keep it a secret and no one will know.” 

Kikyo hugged her. “Thank you so much, Kagome! I'll be back in an hour.” 

It was around hour four that Kagome started to panic. 

She stayed up all night waiting for her cousin. She called and texted hundreds of times but never once got a response. Just when she was beginning to think Suikotsu had murdered her in a jealous rage and she had to talk to the cops, there was a knock on her door. 

Kagome rushed to the door and thanked the gods that her cousin was alive. 

Standing before her was Inuyasha. 

The two of them looked at each other. It was just a little over an hour before the wedding and he was dressed in jeans and a white shirt. 

“Uh, hey.” 

“Hey.” 

He coughed. “I came to talk to Kikyo. Your mom said she was up here.” 

Kagome closed the door as much as she could. “It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.” 

Inuyasha gripped the door. “There isn’t going to  _ be  _ a wedding.” His eyes looked at her with naked feeling and she gasped at the torture she saw there. “I can’t do this, Kagome,” he whispered. 

“It’s just cold feet. Think of your honeymoon, not the ceremony.” Gods, but it hurt her to say that. 

“I don’t want two weeks in Paris with Kikyo! I want to watch Netflix on your understuffed couch.” 

Kagome was confused. “...You want my couch?” 

“No, you fucking idiot, I want you!” 

Inuyasha forced the door open and kissed her. Kagome allowed herself to be held, allowed her eyes to flutter shut, and she melted against him. One last time. One last time to last her through the lonely nights to follow. 

Her phone dinged for the first time in hours and she sped read the text. She laughed and stumbled backwards, falling on her bed. 

“Kikyo just got married.” 

“What?” Inuyasha seemed worried for her. “Did you sleep last night?” 

“Look,” she said, handing him her phone. “Kikyo and Suikotsu got married in a courthouse. They're flying back to his post in Cameroon for the rest of the month and then he’s accepting a position here for good.” 

Inuyasha stared at the phone for a second before barking out a laugh. “This is great! Fuck, but things never work out for me like this. Everything just solved itself and I didn’t have to do anything and I still get the girl.” He grinned at Kagome. “That is, if you still want to get that coffee.” 

She felt like she was floating. “I didn’t sleep at all last night. Coffee sounds like heaven.” 

Inuaysha helped her to her feet and they ran out of the house and down the shrine steps. Guests were already gathering and none of them knew what to make of the sight of the groom and one of the bridesmaids jumping into the “Just Married” red sports car and driving away on screeching wheels. 

“When I do this again,” Inuyasha said, smiling over at her, “when I do this for real, you have to promise me that the vows will contain some Ugly Duckling references.” 

Her heart warmed at the implications and she kissed his cheek. 

“Only if you can tell me where purple ducks live.” 

“With the lepsyhens, I guess.” 

**Note: And that’s the end of Shot Week! Mad thanks to** **ushmie** **for actually reviewing! You’re awesome!**

**Also, kind of surprised that you guys didn’t know that I can write cute stuff? Like I was in the Discord early last year when certain convos went down and I know not everyone likes what I write because it’s not Disney enough, but come on.**

**Let me know which story you like the best! I’ll try and get the ongoing fics updated and I might actually be successful in that endeavor since I will continue to work from home even after the stay-at-home order is lifted. I work in a museum and we’re staying closed a little longer, so yay for us, I guess?**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


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